September 24, 2003
Patriot Act
Most of what I write is marginal, that is, I try to keep it from running off the page. The machine takes care of the left, but I have to flip a few switches in order to line up the right, that is, to justify it. Or I could simply leave it uneven like now.
Justice is often uneven, the Lady’s scales tip now and then. The new Patriot Act is supposed to remedy all that. Apparently, however, it was inadequate. The Attorney General, who defines things like this for us, says we need a sequel, Patriot Act II, to make it easier to justify his department’s behavior in matters that currently aren’t all that easy for them.
For one thing, the AG’s taken a renewed interest in our reading habits. Just when we’re trying to teach all those children how to read rather than leaving them behind, now we have to keep track of all the stuff they’re getting into with their newly-alerted curiosity.
The Justice Department figures that librarians are naturals to help out with this. Librarians have a long and honored tradition of respecting our reading habits and ensuring our privacy. Not to worry, says the AG, his department says it has not used its power to demand library records a “single time.” Yet.
We have to rely entirely on his word, however, for the current Act precludes librarians even to admit they’ve been asked. The American Library Association has complained, of course, and provoked the AG to charge them with being caught up in “baseless hysteria.”
Some of my best friends are librarians. Actually, CP is a librarian and also my wife. Up until now, she’s never chosen hysteria for an outlet that I know of, but if ever she did, I can testify emphatically that it would be neither baseless — nor unjustified.