Author discuss a few of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and the ways it encroaches on the civil liberties of all who live in the United States.

Over the past few weeks I have attended numerous town hall meetings regarding the destruction of the most important document to the United States, the United States Constitution. In just a mere 45 days after the September 11th attacks of 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft had drafted, presented to congress (some of whom did not even have a chance to read the act), and had passed the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" or USA PATRIOT Act. This one document is single-handedly responsible for infringing on the civil rights and liberties of each and every individual in the United States. Some say that it is a necessary evil in the war on terrorism, however, the document has areas written so vague, that the word terrorist now has a meaning that is blurred beyond recognition.

One provision of the act allows the government to have access to your library records. The libraries are not allowed to advise you that this is happening or the offending library official could face arrest. What the government is essentially doing is shifting the weight of their actions onto the library employees and holding the library employees responsible for the "hush-hush" nature of the governmentâ??s actions or else they will face legal repercussions. How preposterous is that?

Another provision allows the government a wider discretionary base of whom they can label a terrorist. Certain political activist groups as well as individuals whose ideas do not conform to the Bush-Ashcroft status quo now face repression, censorship, and possible arrest and deportation. This all occurring in a government that was founded on free speech.

In addition, the United States now gives law enforcement the power of "sneak and peak" warrants. This allows law enforcement officials to enter your home, without your knowledge, and look around for who knows what. More importantly, the warrant that is needed in order to "sneak and peak" is held to a much lower standard then that of a search warrant issued in a United States Federal Court.

While the Bush-Ashcroft team may feel that the USA PATRIOT Act is helping our country combat terrorism, it is actually braking down the moral decency of society. We, as an entire country, have now become less tolerant of so-called "outsiders" then ever before. The act has taught us to be extremely wary of those who look different then us, talk different then us, and act different then us. We are becoming more of a nation divided then of a nation united.

If we ever want to return our country back to the free democracy that it once was, then it is necessary to repeal the USA PATRIOT Act. There are numerous organizations that are currently working towards this goal. Many cities as well as a few states have already passed resolutions condemning the USA PATRIOT Act and the list keeps growing and growing. Now is not the time to be working against your fellow man but rather a time to foster dialogue within our communities. The longer we let this act continue to encroach on our liberties, the more we, as individuals living in the United States, are going to resent anyone who is "different" then us. I can remember a time in history when the United States fought to eradicate such individuals that were willing to silence their opposition through repression, censorship and even death as a way of securing a pure country. This is not the time to be an armchair warrior or activist. We must all stand up to our government officials who supports this despicable initiative known as the USA PATRIOT Act and let them know that the terror must stop. Because if we allow this act to keep expanding, we are going to find ourselves reliving a history that many people, Americans and otherwise, would rather forget.