The investigation of strip club owner Michael Galardi and numerous politicians appears to be the first time federal authorities have used the Patriot Act in a public corruption probe.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Congress intended the Patriot Act to help federal authorities root out threats from terrorists and spies after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"The law was intended for activities related to terrorism and not to naked women," said Reid, who as minority whip is the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate.
"Let me say, with Galardi and his whole gang, I don't condone, appreciate or support all their nakedness. But having said that, I haven't heard anyone say at any time he was involved with terrorism."
The Patriot Act will expire in 2005 unless Congress renews it. "More activity like this is going to cause us to take a close look at what was passed," Reid said of the law being invoked in the Galardi probe.
While I doubt Reid would make such criticism if a Democrat were President, he is still exactly right. The government will always push to the utmost extent of our freedoms and it takes us to stand up and push back. The Patriot Act is like much of government. It promises to do one thing and operationally does another. We should be targeting the demographic that attacked us on 911, not going after strip club owners because they are easier to get.
The American people supported the Patriot Act in good faith, but like most government programs it's being abused. If the government is serious about the terrorist threat they will target the groups that hate us, instead of targeting everyone. This law should be revised so that the government cannot use in any way that isn’t linked to terrorists and terrorism. Further, if they are serious about protecting us, they will seek the death penalty against people like Johnny Walker Lindh would take up arms against us.
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