Man you come up with some bullshit !
Bush should have just declared war and declared marshal law and then you'd have something to bitch about.
I bet you can't provide one single link to any case in the USA where the Patriot Act has been used in the USA to violate any americans rights !
The Patriot Act is also temporary and passed by congress and compared to
any other time during American history it's very weak.
You said "100 years ago the entire administration would have been hung".
Do a little checking on Google and you'll see how ignorant your statement is.
Here's just a few I found in 2 minutes:
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The freedom of more than 600,000 Italian-born immigrants in the United States and their families was restricted during World War II by Government measures that branded them "enemy aliens" and included carrying identification cards, travel restrictions, and seizure of personal property.
(2) During World War II more than 10,000 Italian Americans living on the West Coast were forced to leave their homes and prohibited from entering coastal zones. More than 50,000 were subjected to curfews.
(3) During World War II thousands of Italian American immigrants were arrested, and hundreds were interned in military camps.
(4) Hundreds of thousands of Italian Americans performed exemplary service and thousands sacrificed their lives in defense of the United States.
(5) At the time, Italians were the largest foreign-born group in the United States, and today are the fifth largest immigrant group in the United States, numbering approximately 15,000,000.
(6) The impact of the wartime experience was devastating to Italian American communities in the United States, and its effects are still being felt.
(7) A deliberate policy kept these measures from the public during the war. Even 50 years later much information is still classified, the full story remains unknown to the public, and it has never been acknowledged in any official capacity by the United States Government.
http://bss.sfsu.edu/internment/italians.html
German American Internment
http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/itintern.htm
Japanese American Internment
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8420/main.html
Here's some more before your enemy Bush took power!
American Wars which have resulted in losses of freedoms:
War of 1812:
Central government takes power from state government. Trade restricted.
Civil War: (1861-1865)
President takes over Constitutional powers of Congress.
Government examines private mail and telegrams.
Military leaders allowed to arrest citizens without warrants.
Criminal rights suspended (habeas corpus, etc.).
Freedom of speech and the press ended by arrests and presidential orders.
Draft of citizens.
Government seizes private property.
Taxes raised to support war.
World War I: (1917-1919)
Government control over key areas of economy, including railroads, farms, and power plants; also fixed prices.
Hate propaganda sponsored by government, led to persecution of Americans of German descent, Irish-American, and Jews.
Vigilante groups form to lynch labor leaders and pacifists.
Espionage Act gave strict punishment to those critical of war censorship of mails. Censorship of press; end to freedom of speech (Sedition Act).
Supreme Court grants government right to overthrow freedom of speech.
Selective Service Act created mandatory draft.
Intolerance led to brutal attacks on Black Americans.
World War II: (1941-1945)
Government control over economy (rents, wages, salaries, factories, rationing, etc.).
Government sponsored hate propaganda.
Draft resumed.
Favored treatment for big business led to problems for smaller ones.
Japanese-Americans forced into concentration camps, lost their homes and property.
Labor unions lost rights.
Vietnam War: (1962-1975)
Presidents take over powers of Congress.
FBI and CIA spy on citizens.
Draft resumed.
Increased "cooperation" between government and big business.
Freedom of press restricted.
Criminal rights restricted.
http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lesson...y/HIS0002.html