Wayne Chirnside wrote in a message to All:

 WC> [W]ASHINGTON, Sept. 27 -- The Bush administration, which calls the 
 WC> USA Patriot Act perhaps its most essential tool in fighting 
 WC> terrorists, has begun using the law with increasing frequency in 
 WC> many criminal investigations that have little or no connection to
 WC> terrorism.

Big surprise there,  eh?



 WC> Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the 
 WC> Judiciary Committee, said members of Congress expected some of the
 WC> new powers granted to law enforcement to be used for nonterrorism
 WC> investigations. But he said the Justice Department's secrecy and 
 WC> lack of cooperation in putting the legislation into effect made him
 WC> question whether "the government is taking shortcuts around the 
 WC> criminal laws" by invoking intelligence powers -- with differing 
 WC> standards of evidence — to conduct surveillance operations and 
 WC> demand access to records.

No,  really?!  Duh...!

 WC> "We did not intend for the government to shed the traditional 
 WC> tools of criminal investigation, such as grand jury subpoenas 
 WC> governed by well-established precedent and wiretaps strictly 
 WC> monitored" by federal judges, he said.

If they expected something other than what they got,  they really oughta
get their heads outta their butts...

 WC> Justice Department officials say such criticism has not deterred 
 WC> them. 

"Sticks and stones..."

 WC> "There are many provisions in the Patriot Act that can be used in 
 WC> the general criminal law," Mark Corallo, a department spokesman, 
 WC> said. "And I think any reasonable person would agree that we have 
 WC> an obligation to do everything we can to protect the lives and 
 WC> liberties of Americans from attack, whether it's from terrorists 
 WC> or garden-variety criminals."

Lives _and_ liberties?!  Right.

They're gonna do what they want to do,  and any excuse that's handy _will_ be used...

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