Becoming a Patriot
By Bret A. Fausett
I've always subscribed to the theory that if you really want to know what a new piece of legislation is all about, you need only look at what is known as the short title. Every piece of legislation has one. The National Energy Security Act of 2001? That's a bill backed by the oil and gas industries to open the Alaskan wilderness and parts of our national forests to new drilling and exploration. The Youth Smoking Reduction Act? That would be a piece of legislation backed by the tobacco industry. Notice a trend here? Just take the most cynical meaning of the short title, and you'll be a long way toward knowing what the new legislation is about and who is behind it.
So on October 26, 2001, when President Bush signed into law the USA PATRIOT Act in response to the terrible events of September 11, I was immediately suspicious. If my theory held, the USA PATRIOT Act would be some heavy-handed Soviet-style law, with nothing very patriotic about it. And that's just applying my theory to the acronym. The entire short title is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. Gulp.
The act amends several existing laws in an effort to increase law enforcement surveillance powers, tighten Visa and immigration procedures, and stem the flow of money to terrorist organizations. The initial press on the USA PATRIOT Act suggested my theory had held. Variously described as a wholesale relinquishment of our civil rights or a necessary (albeit intrusive) measure to ensure personal safety, what wasn't in question was that the new legislation pushed the outer boundary of the government's authority to monitor our personal communications.
