For almost a decade we've been living in a situation reminiscent of the situation that prevailed on our soil around the time of the real Tea Party. We've put our country in the hands of redcoats and their spies who -- insult added to injury -- suggest they, not we, are the "patriots."
Three high-profile provisions of the USA Patriot Act are about to expire. That should be a chance for Congress to give serious consideration to curtailing some of the excessive powers it granted to the executive branch during the Bush years — without enough consideration in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and later.
Instead, Congress is headed toward renewing the provisions — including expanded authority to search financial records, conduct roving wiretaps and track “lone wolf” terrorist suspects — without adequate oversight or safeguards or touching other problematic areas of the new surveillance and intelligence framework.
Trouble with most of us is that we haven't felt directly threatened by that alien legislation. But allowing it to continue is as dangerous or more dangerous than giving the White House a free pass, a way of avoiding constitutional restrictions on its power, and a standing army of redcoats prepared to apply the law in any way they choose.
