Patriot Act would not have stopped 9/11

 Dear Editor: 

Your editorial about the Patriot Act was spot on. That horribly misnamed law is comprised of a laundry list of un- and anti-Constitutional people-control measures that the “law enforcement” community had been pushing for, for years. And, you are correct, that act – coupled with several decisions by our constitutionally-challenged judicial system – including the Supreme Court – eviscerates most of the protections provided in the U.S. Constitution.

You neglected to mention that our constitutionally-challenged senators and representatives did not even bother to read the so-called Patriot Act before they voted on it. The congressional leadership bulldozed the law through with no debate, and allowed less than 24 hours between the time the bill was introduced and the voting was complete – for a law that is several hundred pages long.

Those who think that the Patriot Act was a good idea ignore the fact that nothing contained in that act would have prevented the 9/11 atrocity.

According to all three branches of our national government, the U.S. Constitution says: “The United States government can do whatever it wants, to whomever it wants, whenever it wants, wherever on the planet it wants, under whatever excuse it pleases – or with no excuse at all, and there is no recourse for anyone who suffers the depredations of its bureaucrats or ‘law enforcement’ officials.”

Bob Ackley 

Emerson