[joe fonebone]

Yeah, i remember when this patriot act passed... i was floored at the applause this heralded from people on this very website.... all i could think of was the scene from star wars, “ So, this is how democracy dies. With thunderous applause”...

[Smokin' Joe]

I was stunned. All I read was how 'our guy' would use it for good, while the potential for abuse in other hands was obvious.

People seemed to have already forgotten the Clinton Administration, and if the Patriot Act had been proposed the, they'd have fought it tooth and nail.

Now, the shoe is on the other foot and all you have to do to be a 'domestic terrorist' is believe in Jesus, own a gun or simply disagree with the current regime.

Now people can see the potential for abuse, but it was obvious then.

A law should not be measured by the good it can do, but the evil it can do in the wrong hands.

Power corrupts, and this administration had a head start.