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Yep. And voters must know whom to hold accountable. We must not let them get away with it. I challenge the opponents of the Patriot Act to name ONE innocent person who was harmed by the law since it came into force four years ago. We need it to make sure our intelligence agencies can pool their resources to connect the dots and work together to make sure another 9/11 never happens again. Way to go Mr. President!

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

I've said it a couple of times, but perhaps you can help me see the error of my logic.

Surveillance on a person guilty of no crime does an injury to that person. This was a basic theme of George Orwell's 1984. In a free society, individuals do not have to worry about being under the government's watchful eye, scrutinizing everything they do.

Under that reasoning, if the government has run surveillance on innocent individuals, it has done them harm, even if they are unaware of that surveillance. Now, can I produce proof that such has occurred? No, I cannot, but such is due to laws embedded within the Patriot Act, which I have quoted in post #96 and post #102. It would be virtually impossible to put forth the "proof" you seek, and yet such does not mean it has not happened.

Maybe you can explain how the provisions I have quoted in my two posts do not prevent disclosures of abuses of government power. I would like to be enlightened on the matter.