If a group of people kills 3000 of our citizens, then we have the right to wipe them from the face of the earth

A group of people like... Iraq? With their Weapons of Mass Destruction?

I don't know how to break this to you, but despite President Bush and his co-conspirators' best efforts, involving several hundred billion dollars and two years of intense searching, no evidence that Iraq had anything to do with Al Quaeda flying airplanes into skyscrapers or possessed any WMDs has been found.

This may sound cold and uncaring, and I realize that on an individual level it is indeed tragic... but 3,000 people and a couple of skyscrapers are not even a pinprick in the resources of this country. You carry on as though this terrorist attack has destroyed us. Well, I'm here to tell you, we have hundreds of millions of people and thousands of skyscrapers.

John Aschcroft and his Patriot Act has done more harm to the basic foundations and values upon which this country was built than Osama Bin Laden could ever accomplish in his wildest dreams.

How many completely innocent people have been imprisoned under the auspices of the Patriot Act, without access to any legal representation or even anybody knowing where they were imprisoned? How many terrorists have been captured through the "protections" of the Patriot Act? (Hint: the answers may surprise you.)

Already we are seeing abuses of the Patriot Act along the same patterns that law officials utilize when they mis-use the RICO laws (which were originally designed to combat organized crime) for much lesser crimes when no definitive evidence is available.

Even the privilege, no, the right to express these thoughts in a public forum like this one is under attack. I have never in my life been so afraid for my country.

tanstaafl.