[Tennessee_Bob]

Maybe we should start keeping a much better eye on the ACLU instead...

[Conservative Chicagoan]

Is anybody suprised that the American Communist Liberties Union is siding with the terrorists.

[dirtboy]

Considering the FBI's history in this matter, there is nothing wrong with some oversight of their expanded powers. Considering that the government has a history of using new powers in a manner not originally intended (RICO comes to mind), we should be wary of mission creep with these powers. And, considering that the FBI basically had a lot of information regarding the 9/11 terrorists prior to the attack, IMO what the FBI needs, more than expanded survelliance powers, is an expanded ability to process and analyze the information they are already obtaining. However, having said, that, the close of this column is dead-on:

Unfortunately, in the ACLU's eyes, terrorists andtheir left-wing defenders probably fall under the category of "political dissidents."

[Lokibob]

If the FBI backs off, I'd feel very uncomfortable living in California. Also, bet the terrorists flock to California. This is like putting a sign in your yard saying " GUN FREE HOME".

[doryfunk]

I despise the ACLU. It is a communist organisation. However, I also despise the unconstitutional and misnamed 'USA Patriot Act'. The spying powers endorsed by it are unconstitutional and I oppose them.

[zeugma]

While the ACLU is not what I would call myt favorite organization, I would support just about any efforts at this point to get FEDGOV to respect the limitations placed on them by the Constitution. FedGOV is out of control.

[CyberAnt]

The funny part of this is that the ordinary private eye had more power than the FBI. My local station had a private eye guy on (right after the news came out of the expanded FBI powers). He owns a big agency - he said what happened is the FBI was more restricted than the private eye in investigating, wire tapping, internet access, etc. He said this was not anything big at all because private companies have been doing much more snooping than the FBI was doing. This move only gave the FBI the same power the private guys already had.