In 2001 the Bush Administration used the fear and anger of a post-9/11 America to pass the USA Patriot Act, the greatest threat to American liberty in recent history. The act passed with virtually no debate, as opposing it would have been too much of a risk for a member of Congress in the days after September 11. But in a rare act of wisdom from the government, they did have to foresight to include a sunset clause that would make many of the Patriot Act’s most dangerous provisions expire in 2005. And so, “President” Bush launched his campaign to promote the act this week.

After September 11 the question a lot of people were asking was, “How much freedom should we be willing to give up to fight terrorism?” I though about this for a bit, and then I realized what the answer was. None. Not one right.

Airport security checks, terror alert levels, Homeland Security–they may make people feel safer. But in actuality we are every bit at risk of an attack now than we were three years ago. You can never stop somebody intent on killing simply by making more laws, taking away more freedom. These are criminals. To them, what’s one more law to break?

The truth is you’re never secure. Even if there were no terrorists, any one of us could still die at any moment. You’re more likely to be hit by a car on the way to work than to be killed by a terrorist. Does that mean you’re going to hide in your house for fear of what might happen to you? Nobody knows what the future holds. That doesn’t stop us from living our lives.

Security is nothing more than an illusion. The government can make all the laws it wants, and people will still find ways to damage, and hurt, and kill. And our sense of security will be just that–perception. The only thing that is real is our freedom. Giving away our most valuable resource for the fantasy of protection seems to me to be the very essence of an unfair deal.

Freedom is one of the things that makes America a great place to live. Even if it is something we are not always successful in living up to, the ideal is always there. So even at our worst we realize that freedom is something worth striving for. Would we now toss all that aside so quickly simply because we are afraid? If we lose even the aspiration toward freedom, what makes America any different from any of the other 192 countries in the world? What makes America worth protecting?

Congress was right to put an expiration date on the Patriot Act. Bush may have been able to manipulate America into going along with the Patriot Act after September 11, but now we have one last chance to prove what really matters. This is the best chance we have ever had to rid ourselves of this law. Bush has already taken the offensive to make the Patriot Act permanent. Now we must fight back to make sure that does not happen. For more information about the Patriot Act, I recommend heading over to the ACLU’s USA Patriot Act page.

I leave you today with a quote from George Washington, first president of the United States:

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”