I want to say that I laud the fact that the Patriot Act will sunset soon, making its heinous and odorous provisions go away, but I fear that the sunset provisions will only open us to the possibility that lawmakers will seize this opportunity to stuff in even more invasive laws, and steal away more liberties.
It's a frightening thought for me that it could get worse.
I'm not going to be happy until I see the thing dead and buried with a stake in its heart.
UPDATE: to the person who corrected my punctuation, thanks. I'm normally very good about those types of things, but I was writing off the top of my head, and in a rush, and a mistake slipped through. Nice to know I'm not the only one who gets frustrated with those types of things. If you haven't already, Anonymous, go grab a copy of "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss. It's fabulous.
"making it's heinous and odorous provisions go away"...
it's = contraction of "it is"
its = the possessive of "it"
Look it up. Sorry, but it's a pet peeve of mine.
Although I agree with the fact that SOME of the provisions of the Patriot Act are a bit over the top, look at the effect it has had. There has not been ONE terrorist attack of any significant magnitude since September 11, 2001, shortly before the Patriot Act was put into effect. As a person whose duty is to guard this country (with the military), I applaud this measure, although with some skepticism and reservations. People have to realize that there were simply too many freedoms granted to those in this country, citizens and otherwise. Yes, Jefferson and Madison would be rolling in their graves, but times have changed since 1787, and while it's a shame that some of our rights have to be revoked or curtailed, it is the evil people like Al Qaeda that make the vast majority of the law-abiding good, suffer the consequences of said actions. Yes, that is letting them win, but the alternative, is to allow them to strike again, with even graver consequences next time.