I honestly think that if the "Patriot" Act had been the brainchild of a Democratic Administration, Conservatives would be outraged and the spittle would fly, over its broad expansion of government powers, and the intrusive nature of those powers.

Nothing should set off alarm bells in the mind of a civil libertarian more than the laundry list of ordinary crimes that the government wants to address with its extraordinary antiterrorism powers:

(c) any offense which is punishable under the following sections of this title: section 201 (bribery of public officials and witnesses), section 215 (relating to bribery of bank officials), section 224 (bribery in sporting contests), subsection (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), or (i) of section 844 (unlawful use of explosives), section 1032 (relating to concealment of
assets), section 1084 (transmission of wagering information), section 751 (relating to
escape), section 1014 (relating to loans and credit applications generally; renewals and
discounts), sections 1503, 1512, and 1513 (influencing or injuring an officer, juror, or
witness generally), section 1510 (obstruction of criminal investigations), section 1511
(obstruction of State or local law enforcement), section 1591 (sex trafficking of children
by force, fraud, or coercion), section 1751 (Presidential and Presidential staff
assassination, kidnapping, and assault), section 1951 (interference with commerce by
threats or violence), section 1952 (interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of
racketeering enterprises), section 1958 (relating to use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire), section 1959 (relating to violent crimes in aid of
racketeering activity), section 1954 (offer, acceptance, or solicitation to influence
operations of employee benefit plan), section 1955 (prohibition of business enterprises of
gambling), section 1956 (laundering of monetary instruments), section 1957 (relating to
engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity),
section 659 (theft from interstate shipment), section 664 (embezzlement from pension
and welfare funds), section 1343 (fraud by wire, radio, or television), section 1344
(relating to bank fraud), sections 2251 and 2252 (sexual exploitation of children), section
2251A (selling or buying of children), section 2252A (relating to material constituting or
containing child pornography), section 1466A (relating to child obscenity), section 2260
(production of sexually explicit depictions of a minor for importation into the United
States), sections 2421, 2422, 2423, and 2425 (relating to transportation for illegal sexual
activity and related crimes), sections 2312, 2313, 2314, and 2315 (interstate
transportation of stolen property), section 2321 (relating to trafficking in certain motor
vehicles or motor vehicle parts), section 1203 (relating to hostage taking), section 1029
(relating to fraud and related activity in connection with access devices), section 3146
(relating to penalty for failure to appear), section 3521(b)(3)(relating to witness relocation and assistance), section 32 (relating to destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities), section 38 (relating to aircraft parts fraud), section 1963 (violations with respect to racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations), section 115(relating to threatening or retaliating against a Federal official), section 1341 (relating to mail fraud), a felony violation of section 1030 (relating to computer fraud and abuse), section 351 (violations with respect to congressional, Cabinet, or Supreme Court assassinations, kidnapping, and assault), section 831 (relating to prohibited transactions involving nuclear materials), section 33 (relating to destruction of motor vehicles or motor vehicle facilities), section 175 (relating to biological weapons), section 1992 (relating to wrecking trains), a felony violation of section 1028 (relating to production of false identification documentation), section 1425 (relating to the procurement of citizenship or nationalization unlawfully), section 1426 (relating to the reproduction of naturalization or citizenship papers), section 1427 (relating to the sale of naturalization or citizenship papers), section 1541 (relating to passport issuance without authority), section 1542 (relating to false statements in passport applications), section 1543 (relating to forgery or false use of passports), section 1544 (relating to misuse of passports), or section 1546 (relating to fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents);”

DOJ USA "Patriot" Act Sunsets Report

My god, interstate gambling a terrorist act? Trafficking in motor vehicle parts? Mail fraud? Embezzlement? Bribing a professional athlete? Hiding assets from the IRS? Engaging in illegal sexual activity? Cursing out a stupid FEMA clerk ("relating to threatening or retaliating against a Federal official") makes you a terrorist? And don't you dare lie to that cop next time you're pulled over for speeding ("impeding an investigation") or you'll be labelled a terrorist; and don't skip bail (" failure to appear"). Tempted to fudge on that loan application? Better not: "relating to loans and credit applications generally".

It's interesting that RICO is on the list. RICO is already used primarily as a pretext for nailing people for other crimes. Now the "Patriot" Act layers on another pretext on the pretext, that "racketeer-influenced and corrupt organization" are now to be considered terrorist organizations. That may come as a shock to the Mafia.

Only a true sicko would defend child pornography, but only an aspiring tyrant would call it a terrorist act.

We already have plenty of laws and plenty of police powers for the ordinary crimes. If the government feels that its hands are unreasonably tied in investigating any of those things, then let it ask for more authority out in the open and honestly. Burying additional powers to investigate non-terrorist acts in a bill supposedly about antiterrorism is deceitful and dishonest.

The government's compulsion to lie about what it gets from the "Patriot" Act is a damn good reason for skepticism.

The DOJ's report cited above is morbidly entertaining in its own right. It was written to support the government's side in the debate over reauthorizing the "Patriot" Act, and most of the examples it gives to demonstrate the utility and effectiveness of the antiterrorism powers are not investigations into terrorism. To wit:

Section 212 has been used often and has already saved lives. To give just a few examples, voluntary disclosures from computer service providers pursuant to section 212 have assisted law enforcement in safely recovering an 88-year-old Wisconsin woman who was kidnapped and held for ransom while bound in an unheated shed during a cold Wisconsin winter and in safely recovering four kidnapped or missing children. For
instance, a few months ago, Bobbie Jo Stinnett of Skidmore, Missouri, who was eight
months pregnant, was found strangled in her home lying in a pool of her own blood. Her
unborn daughter had been cut out of her womb with a kitchen knife. Police officers examined a computer found in Bobbie Jo’s home. They discovered that she had been
active on the Internet in connection with her dog-breeding business. As the investigation
intensified, the officers found an exchange from a message board between Bobbie Jo and
someone who called herself Darlene Fischer. Fischer claimed to be interested in a dog.
She had asked Bobbie Jo for directions to her house for a meeting on December 16—the
same day as the murder. Using section 212, FBI agents and examiners at the Regional
Computer Forensic Laboratory in Kansas City were able to trace Darlene Fischer’s
messages to a server in Topeka, find Darlene Fischer’s email address, and then trace it to a house in Melvern, Kansas. Darlene Fischer’s real name was in fact Lisa Montgomery.
Montgomery was arrested and subsequently confessed, and baby Victoria Jo Stinnett was
found alive—less than 24 hours after she was cut from her mother’s womb.

Classic authoritarian conservative sales pitch: "Give up your rights and your freedoms, and we'll keep you safe. Look at this list of horrible things that might happen to you if you don't go along!"

The more I look into the "Patriot" Act, the more evidence I find that it's exactly what people are afraid it is: An attack on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.