Sept. 20, 2003 - 21:44 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Yeah Right

It is a short article in this mornings news. In the editorial section so it does not have a by-line. Headed: "A Harmless Secret"

"It was like pulling teeth but the Justice Department has finally come up with a response to questions about its power under section 215 of the Patriot Act to snoop on the patrons of libraries and bookstores."

"The power has never been used."

"The number of times section 215 has been used to date is zero," said FBI Director Robert Mueller in a memo to Attorney General John Ascroft."

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it ?"

"The department has fought releasing that information on the grounds that disclsosure might harm national security. The department never said exactly how."

"Ashcroft has been on a multi-city speaking tour defending the Patriot Act, an expansion and reform of government surveillance powers that Congress is now threatening to scale back."

"His decision to detail use of the library provision smacks of a rear guard action. But now that Justice has tested the waters and found them safe by releasing a perfectly innocent piece of information, maybe it will be as forthcoming about other provisions of the Patriot Act."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There, the man said that they haven't used it. Or said that he had a memo saying it wasn't used. Hasn't been used -- YET ?

Makes me feel that big brother is easing up a bit -- not !

Maybe someday our fearless congressmen and ladies will put the quietus on much of that stuff in the Patriot Act. Fancy name that, Patriot Act, guess it says you better be a patriot and be obviously so, or they will ACT ? ? ? ?

What wasn't said or implied even was that section 215 had been eliminated. Soon maybe it will be ? ? ? ? ? Yeah Right . . . . . . . . . .

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