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The Secret Patriot Act

Juan Cole 05/26/2011

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Dear Tea Party: If all your distrust of the federal government doesn’t cause you to vote against the so-called PATRIOT Act, your tea is weak. Very weak.

Spencer Ackerman reports that Rep. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) is worried about a “secret PATRIOT Act”– that is, a set of practices and inquiries into the affairs of private citizens that go far beyond the letter of the law and which would shock most Americans.

Hint: The ‘business records’ provision is the one that most concerns him.

Me, I think government surveiilance could allow the blackmailing of judges, journalists and politicians, adding to the corruption of the American political system.

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) also plans to vote against if there aren’t amendments.

Congress is set to extend the unconstitutional law, which contravenes the 4th Amendment, for 4 years without debate.

So an elective dictatorship is imposing a dictatorial and unconstitutional law on Americans without so much as a discussion.

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About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

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