Sunday, July 17, 2005

Downing Street mail delivery not exactly spit-spot

One of the tactics Bill O'Reilly uses with individuals who are opposed to the Patriot Act (besides screaming "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!") is to ask them "What freedoms have you personally lost because of the Patriot Act or the war on terror?" To my knowledge, he hasn't said this to the dozens of people who have been arrested because they refused to stand in a "free speech" zone, or who have been forcibly removed from Bush rallies. He hasn't said it to the hundreds of people whose group meetings have been infiltrated by the FBI or the National Guard. He hasn't said it to the photgrapher in my community who was stopped by the law because she took a photograph out of her car window, or the art student I know of who was questioned by the police because he went to his building after hours and drew.

Now, Shakespeare's Sister has evidence that thousands of Americans may have been affected in a big way, not by the Patriot Act itself, but by the climate of suspicion that is pervading the country. Think your emails go where they're supposed to? Maybe not.