re: The proof of how the Patriot Act is not being used politically
"Neo-Bolshevism in Eurasia and Death-Worship in East Asia"
"Merely it became known, with extreme suddenness and everywhere at once, that Eastasia and not Eurasia was the enemy. "
"The three major powers were not fighting this perpetual war for victory, they were fighting to keep a state of emergency always present as the surest guarantee of authoritarianism. "
Three direct quotes from 1984 by George Orwell.
If one subtitutes Eastern Europe and China for Eurasia, Middle East for East Asia..
Everyone knows about Big-Brother from george orwell's 1984 they miss the reason behind it.
His insight was not technological but political - he saw how government could restrict freedom. An enemy gives you the power to do this.