Elonka wrote:
] My own opinion is that trying to attack the entire Patriot Act
] is a bad idea, but that it is worth focusing on getting
] specific provisions repealed or amended.
]
] I've read large portions of the Patriot Act, and most of it is
] really unobjectionable, paperwork-streamlining stuff. But
] there has been an enormous amount of misinformation that has
] been distributed about just what it does.

I think the patriot act has gotten a lot of focus because it has such an easy name. Often I find people who are up in arms about it and when I drill for specifics they are really concerned about enemy combatants and not the patriot act itself. I'm concerned about them too, and I'm much more interested in that question then I am in the patriot act. Of course, politicians will focus on what gets attention from the most people, rather then what those people a really concerned about.

For the most part the patriot act needs merely a bit of balancing to satisfy the problems that informed commentators like the ACLU have with it. Most of the real problems with it, in my view, stem from its application outside of what you and I would define as "terrorism." The money laundering is a simple example. A more complex example is the definition of the word terrorism itself. When you and I talk about it we are thinking of september 11th, but the law defines it as anyone who commits a violent crime with a political agenda. This, for example, would come into play in the context of anti-globalization protesters, who frequently destroy properly and attack police. What they are doing is wrong, but I don't think its elevated to the level where we would consider it terrorism. (Furthermore, lord only knows what examples of basically non-violent activity have been put under the definition of "violent crime" for political reasons.)

Striking a more reasonable balance here would satisfy most of the concerns with it. I don't really think you're a terrorist until you are attempting to murder people or seriously harm them, usually in large numbers.

RE: Patriot Act