As I said, you're preaching to the converted about privacy. The Patriot Act didn't suddenly usher in a new era of snooping. As you posted and re-posted, a-holes in government have always compromised citizens' privacy, legally or not. But, and I believe my own twisted logic, members of Congress fear unchecked intelligence-gathering because it eventually threatens their own precious, trough-centric careers. None of them wants a J Edgar envelope from Poindexter with photos, web histories, financial records and voice mail transcripts. Our privacy, by and large, is protected by elected officials protecting themselves. Those little weasels are our warriors!