Patriot Act in the News

As I was writing the previous post I quickly googled the Patriot Act. I had great timing, Google News told me, Newsday had just published an article entitled, "House Votes to Limit Patriot Act Rules." Basically, the House voted to limit the extent to which the federal government could gain access to public library usage.

Thankfully some Republicans are seeing, at least in part, the horror that is the Patriot Act. Not all, however. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales seems to think it's not extensive enough. From the article you didn't read, "When asked whether the administration would agree to exclude library and medical records from the law, Gonzales demurred. 'It should not be held against us that we have exercised restraint,' he said." I suppose he would rather it be held against them that they went on a Witch Hunt, and ended up imprisoning anyone who had a wart on their nose.

I wonder in 10 years what historians will call this era of McCarthyism. Will it be "W-ism"? "Bushism"? (Blogger spell check suggested 'Fascism' as a replacement word for that last one. Interesting.) Instead of "The Red Scare" will we call it "The Muslim Scare"? Will history remember us as an overly paranoid people who did nothing to stop to atrocities we witnessed, and only encouraged them?