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President George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act and dramatically restricts our civil liberties.

The Patriot Act

As is said many time on this site, liberty is the most distinguishing characteristic of our country. Even though the vast majority of our liberty has already been relinquished to the state, the Patriot Act takes undue authority over the people one step further. There is no question that its contents are in opposition to the principles of both the Constitution and Bill of Rights even though it may help the government to better fight terrorism. This legislation is the relinquishment of liberty for security that the founders warned us about because it removes our right to privacy, due process of the law, and numerous other protections that are essential.

Most of us Americans were told by the government that it was especially necessary to keep us safe after September 11th, and the media never properly informed the people as to what the provisions contained within it actually allowed the government to do. In fact, it was originally passed by congress in 2001 immediately after 9/11 before most representatives even had a chance to read the document. In all fairness, the legislature may have been forced into signing it because of the post-9/11 hysteria, but that should be no excuse for such supposedly astute gentlemen to be fooled or forced to do something so hastily.

Abuse of the Patriot Act

Many supporters of the Patriot Act admit that the law infringes on our rights but say that the government has our best interests in mind and that we can trust the government to use their new powers over us responsibly. They cite the fact that the Patriot is not being used for the wrong reasons, but this assertion is entirely false. It has been used numerous times for reasons very different from those given by its supporters, and a simple Google search proves this fact beyond any reasonable doubt. Most often it has been used as a catch-all for authorities to do whatever they want if other legal reasons to not suffice, but these abuses of power remain below the radar and will continue to go unnoticed until something truly egregious occurs.

There is absolutely no question that when any person or group of people is given power, it will be abused unless they can be held accountable, something also made more difficult by this legislation. The Founders new of the dangers of giving government such power over the people, which is why they established a republican government and not a democracy. This bill demonstrates the inherent dangers of abandoning our Republic and accepting democracy as it is offered to us by the corporation.

An Orwellian Acronym

• The "USA Patriot Act" is an acronym for "The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act."

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