The so-called Patriot act was rammed (un-read) through congress with hysterical rhetoric. Maybe a litlle hysteria in the name of Freedom is justified.
And it isn't just the libbos who are worried...
The hysteria is what turns me off to the issue. That's what the left always does: substitute raw emotion (especially fear) for facts and good arguments based on facts. It simply doesn't work, except perhaps with children and people who think and act like children (such as the above-mentioned political left).