It's all better than a soap opera

The US House of Representatives actually passed a Dept of Justice appropriations bill with an amendment which would repeal a section of the US Patriot Act. The section it is seeking to repeal is that which allows the US government, without a court order, to request records from bookstores and libraries of any patron. It also restricts librarians or bookstore owners from informing patrons that their records have been seized.

Sounds a little silly, doesn't it? Do they really expect Al-Qaida to have their cells checking out "How to bomb a building" or "The best way to import explosives" from their local library. And really, there is little subversive material to be had at Barnes & Nobles. I can just imagine them requesting my records...romance, science fiction, vegetarian cookbooks, occassional videos, and an assortment of travel books. I suppose that a random domestic terrorist, like Timothy McVeigh or the Unabomber, might avail themselves of the decades old materials you can find in the (severely underfunded) US library systems, but looking for someone like that is like the proverbial needle in a haystack. (Besides which, can the books that someone reads really be held up as evidence?)

Despite it's silliness, it is reflective of the larger problem of the Patriot Act's encroachment on civil liberties. For example, the same sort of action (seizing of records) applies to medical and mental health records. That means the government can, without subpoena, seize the records of your doctor or your therapist...and that professional is not allowed to tell you that those records have been seized. It's an awful breach of privacy.

And the White House is taking this incursion into the US Patriot Act seriously. The President has threatened to veto the appropriations bill should it pass the Senate. That can't be making the Justice Dept. happy.

On a somewhat related note, this afternoon there are finally hearings in DC on the Downing St Memo. But the hearing has only been given a small room in the Capitol building and most republicans are staying away.