Patriot Act Redux

"Why sunset legislation where there's been no actual record of abuse and vigorous oversight?" Sensenbrenner said.

The very nature of abuse implies that damage has been done. Must our rights be stripped, innocents jailed, and our lives intruded upon before we decide to limit our government's power? I believe we are smart enough as a nation to think throught the possible (likely) scenarios in which our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms to privacy, from illegal search, and from search without probable cause might be compromised without any "actual record".

This lack of record is exactly the problem. Call me a cynic, but I don't trust this administration (or any other) to put my rights before their concerns. During trying times is exactly when we need to be most valiant in protecting the rights that countless Americans have fought and died to ensure.