Yesterday, while discussing the Pariot Act's ability to empower the Government to access Library records of it's citizens to find out what books people have been checking out, as well as a myriad of other things, our fearless Attorney General John Ashcroft has stated that the Government has never used this ability. Because they've never used it, people who are angry about it, and claim that it's a violation of our first amendment rights are Hysterical in their paranoia. In fact here is a quote from his website on what he thinks people who are fighting this are thinking.
""Your local library has been surrounded by the FBI." Agents are working round-the-clock. Like the X-Files, they are dressed in raincoats, dark suits, and sporting sunglasses. They stop patrons and librarians and interrogate everyone like Joe Friday. In a dull monotone they ask every person exiting the library, "Why were you at the library? What were you reading? Did you see anything suspicious?"

According to these breathless reports and baseless hysteria, some have convinced the American Library Association that under the bipartisan Patriot Act, the FBI is not fighting terrorism. Instead, agents are checking how far you have gotten on the latest Tom Clancy novel. "


Mr. Ashcroft, we are not dumb. The simple threat of this type of behavior is enough to cause people concern whether or not the Government actually ever uses it. I mean, you could just as easily say that "we are passing a law that restricts your right to free speech in situations where your speaking might influence the decision of voters" yet come out and say, "It doesn't really matter because the FBI neither has the resources or the time to regulate what people say in their own homes, so in reality, free speech is not threatened."
The fact is, the law is there, and whether you choose to enforce it or not is irrelevant. The fact is that you can enforce it if you want to and this is a severe infraction into the freedoms that we cherish as Americans. Whether you choose to enforce or enact the laws you pass does not make them any less legal. The fact is you can do it, and whenever the need arises you will do it, regardless of what the publics perception of "need" happens to be.
Perhaps this is the reason that Missouri chose to vote a deceased person into office rather than you.

On Another front...
Michael Moore was recently quoted as saying that in a confrontation with George W. Bush (notice that I omit his appointed title), GW told Michael to "Get a real Job." I think in this economy, GW should be happy that Michael has a job at all, since He's responsible for almost 3 million Americans being put out of work since 2001. And the even funnier thing is that the only solution that GW has is to tell people to go out and get a job. Maybe he thinks finding a job is that simple since every position he's held in his life was handed to him on a silver freakin platter. So anyway, come election time, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that GW gets his walking papers, and hangs his head in shame for the trip back to Crawford TX. I think you all should do the same too.