Lest we forget, the Patriot 2 Act is coming through Congress, with Herr Ashcroft making the rounds trying to frighten people into approving the act. While the original “USA Patriot” Act was enough of a hit to our civil rights, P2 stands to erode them even further. Here are a few highlights:

• Increases surveillance of U.S. citizens and allows warrantless wiretaps, electronic eavesdropping, and searches;
• Allows them to spy on you, collect all sorts of personal information, credit histories, etc., even when not connected with terrorism
• Allows agencies to get your DNA and catalog it without your consent or a court order;
• Expands legal definition of terrorism to include what is currently accepted as legal protesting;
• Allows the government to convict U.S. citizens using “secret evidence” which the accused may not see or contest;
• Allows the government to strip Americans of their citizenship simply by saying they belong to a “terrorist organization,” by whatever definition they please. After which, aforementioned Americans may be indefinitely imprisoned as undocumented aliens;
• Allows spying on U.S. citizens for the benefit of foreign countries;
• Allows the arrest and detention of immigrants without filing charges or allowing legal representation;
• Allows the government to arrest citizens who aid “terrorist organizations,” even if the organization you are associated with is not identified as “terrorist”;

And lots, lots more. A full treatment of the oppressive legislation is provided by the ACLU. In short, the government can perform almost unlimited spying on you without warrant or cause, can try and convict you with evidence that cannot be challenged or even seen, and if the courts get too fussy about what rights of yours they’re trampling on, they can strip you of your citizenship at will and then do whatever they please with you.

This is absolutely terrifying. While we have “assurances” from the government (which I would value less than a pitcher of warm spit) that these dangerously expanded police powers would never be abused, the fact remains that police powers are always abused, sooner or later, more often than not. Look back at the 60’s and 70’s, when so many who protested the government or the status quo, including people like Martin Luther King, were spied on for political purposes.

The fact is, most of the ingredients for a fascist police state are contained in the bill; abuse would not only be possible, it would be completely legal.

Be a patriot–a real one–and let Ashcroft and his conservative cronies know exactly where they can stuff this bill. Tell your Congressional Representative that not only do we not need Patriot 2, we have to review the sweeping powers given under the first act. Remember “give me liberty, or give me death”? Well, now it’s “take my liberties, I’m frightened.”

There are better ways to protect our country than by surrendering our freedoms.