If memory serves, outgoing Attorney General Ashcroft was supposed to restore honor and integrity to the Justice Department following the disastrous reign of Janet Reno at the helm of the Clinton Justice Department.
This did not happen.
Instead, Ashcroft supervised a coordinated assault on the Constitution in a way that hasn't been seen since the early days of World War II and the Red Scare.
Holding someone for three years (with an option of keeping them locked up for the rest of their natural life) because they MIGHT be a terrorist goes against everything that the founders of the country stood for. No trial for the accused? Re-read the Declaration of Independence and focus on the reasons why they were declaring independence from the King of England if a refresher is needed.
Yes, our enemy is deadly and is not bound by civilized rules of conduct or decency, but if we don't live by rules that keep the government in check, then we may one day wake up and find ourselves in a country that tolerates no dissent and locks up people who disagree with the government.
The government needs to stop the terrorists, but that can be done without shredding the Constitution or the 5th Amendment. Old-fashioned law enforcement, investigations, stings, take-downs and, if necessary, military action will help the government combat terrorism. Ashcroft's Patriot Act is a direct challenge to the supreme law of the land, the United States Constitution.
Bush is not out to start a dictatorship, but we can't predict what a leader will do fifteen years down the road. By weakening the Constitution today, we may be propping up someone who craves power more than observing the rule of law down the road. We are just asking for trouble.
Laws that are made in the heat of the moment are bad news; the wild emotion that make the passing of such laws possible eventually fades, and then we are left with the bad laws. So it is with parts of the Patriot Act. And that is why it must be corrected and revised.
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