Patriot Act Illegal?
Well, maybe parts of it.
At least, according to this article on Wired News, a federal judge ruled that parts of the Patriot Act were in violation of the First and Fifth Ammendments. Basically, he said that parts of the Act were to “vague” and left too much open to interpretation and that ambiguity was, in fact, unconstitutional. Go figure. The case in question, incidentally, was regarding a group that was giving advice to groups on seeking a peaceful resolution of the Kurds’ campaign for self-determination in Turkey. Apparently, acting peacefully somehow riled some government agents who used the Patriot Act as a threat to get them to stop.
You know, the intent behind the Patriot Act was a good one: to keep America safe. But, the actual document was written so poorly that it allowed far, far too many potential abuses. I think we need stronger security, but we need to improve it without infringing on our Constitutional rights! I think that what we have in place now needs to be scrapped in favor of something less invasive and with more checks and balances. There has to be a middle ground. But, to find it, we need to keep our heads and not panic, as Thoreau said, “It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.” And, as my favorite statesman, and a fellow Freemason, said, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ”
It’s our job as citizens to deal with this. Talk to your Senators and Representatives about this. Tell them how you feel and make an impact on the future of this nation. It’s your civic duty to be involved in government!
