Must read - Librarians Speak Out for First Time After Being Gagged by Patriot Act

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0530-06.htm
"Our clients were gagged by the government at a time when Congress needed to hear their voices the most," said Ann Beeson, ACLU Associate Legal Director. "This administration has repeatedly shown that it will hide behind the cloak of national security to silence its critics and cover up embarrassing facts. Every time the government invokes national security in defense of secrecy -- as they've done most recently with NSA wiretapping -- the American public should remember these four librarians."
"The four librarians, members of a Connecticut consortium called the Library Connection, sought help from the ACLU after the FBI demanded patron records through a National Security Letter. This controversial Patriot Act tool allows the government to demand, without court approval, records of people who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. Anyone who receives such a demand is gagged from disclosing the mere existence of the request."

A few thoughts:
I was one who was following the Patriot Act "debates". I remember vividly those senators and congressmen who scoffed at the notion that the Act would ever be used to access library records of ordinary citizens.

Man, we are fed such a bunch of balony on a daily basis.

Thank goodness for Democracy Now!. Thank goodness for FAIR. Thank goodness for the ACLU.

- Vox