Okay, so anyone with a little bit of sense was concerned when the USA PATRIOT Act passed with such ease - in addition to a lengthy, horribly contrived acronym, the act went to great lengths to threaten and/or suspend our basic civil liberties.
Well, this guy can tell us what it's like to be hassled by not only the police but by the Department of Homeland Security - for taking pictures of a bridge for a photography class. For taking pictures of a bridge for a photography class.
Now, I don't doubt that part of the problem was that small-town police officers and security officials can have a tendency to get a little bit of attitude, let their position of authority go to their heads, get a bit swell-chested, especially when confronted with individuals who are... a bit more tan than others. But there comes a point when it's just post-9/11 paranoia, pure and simple, and it encourages those in positions of power to completely and totally step all over the Constitutional rights of those they're supposed to be protecting. And what sucks even more is that given the opportunity to take a much-needed whack at USA PATRIOT that would give us out rights back, the House decided that things are fine the way they are, thanks.
When are we going to get pissed off enough to do something about this? For that matter, is there really anything that we can do anyway? I'm not willing to sit back and watch John Ashcroft sift through my e-mail for fun, but I honestly don't know where to start.
Much thanks to Sadly, No! for the link.
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