USA PATRIOT Act renewed, again

Immediately after the terrorists attacks of September 11th, 2001, Congress passed and President Bush signed a law that changed the way Americans lived. Specifically, it eroded several Constitutional freedoms we enjoy as citizens.

We were told the law was meant to stop another attack by al-Qaeda, which was imminent. Members of Congress were warned by the Justice Department that, if you do not pass this law, the blood of Americans will be on your hands.

We were also told the law was temporary. Much of the law was permanent from its passage.

Yet, about every four years, some provisions of the law come up for renewal. And remarkably, even though we are led by people who say they value our freedoms, these lawmakers routinely extend the USA PATRIOT Act again and again. First the Senate (in a 72-23 vote) and now the House (in a 250 to 153 vote). All that is needed now is a signature by President Obama, and Americans will continue to live in a world where the Constitutional freedoms (specifically the protections against unreasonable search and seizures in the Fourth Amendment) not longer exist, at least in terrorism investigations.

I've written a comprehensive article of the USA PATRIOT Act, outlining the facts of its passage as well as its benefits and drawbacks. It is a disturbing account.

The article concludes with this:

"From the review of the USA PATRIOT Act presented in this article, it is safe to conclude that the US government has restricted the liberties of all Americans in order to prevent or reduce the threat of terrorism on our soil. We may be wise, then, to carefully consider the admonition of Benjamin Franklin, who wrote in 1755: 'Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.' A slightly altered version of this statement appears on a stairwell of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, in New York Harbor, overlooking the very city that suffered the worst of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001."

Sadly, we have forgotten these words and their meaning. Further, I find it highly ironic that we routinely recognize our military troops for fighting overseas in the "war on terror" to "protect our freedoms" while we willingly sacrifice them at home as part of this same war.

Edit: I should have added this: The law was passed at the last possible moment with virtually no debate. It was so late in the process, in fact, that President Obama had to sign it from abroad using an "autopen." Nice.