Let me understand the Republicans, if I can.
By a majority vote in the House of Representatives largely along party lines the Patriot Act is extended. This act takes liberty away from American citizens and in return it claims to reward us with safety. The Patriot act allows our government to search our homes and the records of our business transactions among other things. Basically we are saying to the government that we trust that they will use these extra powers to look for terrorists, but we know that you wouldn't use these powers for another purpose.
Of course one of the most critical aspects of American freedom is our ability to speak truth to power. This means that when we see the government doing something illegal, immoral or harmful we feel safe in voicing that opinion without reason to suspect repercussions.
For example, protesters should feel safe in expressing their distaste for the War in Iraq. The government has no right to disrupt that free speech. When we look at the details however there are a lot of grey areas. Protesters can voice an opinion, but they can not cause undue harm. People can argue that 300,000 people blocking traffic in a large metropolitan area could cause harm. Likewise, the government can argue that they have the right to know who they are dealing with, because some of the protesters may wish to inflict harm under the guise of protesting. Fortunately there are plenty of laws in place that define what each group can and can not do. The Patriot Act has given some additional powers to the government.
Today it has been revealed that the government has actually been cheating. They have been spying on people by listening to phone conversations. Even under the looser restrictions of the Patriot Act these wiretaps needed to be authorized by a secret court. But today's story says that the Bush administration ordered the illegal wiretaps.
So, why in God's name would any sane person vote to extend the Patriot Act? It seems to me that the Bush administration is going to cheat anyway. As long as these provisions are illegal we have some recourse. If we give the Republicans more authority it seems that they will only push the envelope further. They can't be trusted to protect us within the boundary of our laws. They believe that they are above the law. This perception of self-importance will only lead to breaking the law more often. It is no wonder that the Republicans want to legalize as much of this authority as possible, because it lowers to probability that they will be indicted.
For the sake of American Freedom we need to remember that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Don't allow our freedom to slip away!