i'm not sure if it was the Patriot Act that led to the detainment of Mike Hawash, but i'll say this: I'm glad he was nabbed.

the real point is whether law enforcement will use the Patriot Act to pursue all kinds of criminals(tax evasion, drugs, theft) instead of terrorists acting within the United States.

they probably will, but is that assumption enough to attack it?

would the gratutitous liberties given law enforcement(like wire taps without a court order or denial of access to a lawyer) be upheld in court if they were not used in pursuing somene involved in terrorist activities?

i don't think we can trust our government to keep the threat of terrorism seperate from other crimes(it would be nice if they would) since they have already tried to make the prepoosterous connection of using drugs and supporting terrorism. talk about idiotic.