Patriot (sic) Act

First of all, I'm disgusted that the term "patriot" has been appropriated by the neocons in this way, attached to a body of legislation (it isn't a single law but a set of laws and changed regulations) that has absolutely nothing to do with patriotism, but has everything to do with restricting freedom. It should be called the Restriction on Freedom Act. Now that would be honest.

Secondly, why is it acceptable to hold anyone, even if he is not a citizen of this country, indefinitely without even charging this person with a crime? Is that consistent with human rights? Whose view of human rights? What kind of country have we become? It seems that in addition to destroying the meaning of words like "patriot," this current regime and its ideological backers are unashamed hypocrites, parroting words about "freedom" and "liberty," while working for its destruction.

No wonder Vladimir Putin has told us, more than once, to mind our own business when we complained about human rights violations in Russia or that the leaders in Zhongnanhai, Beijing have viewed U.S. government complaints about mistreatment of Uighur muslims and Tibetan buddhists as disingenuous. In other words, this administration's reputation as anti-democratic, corrupt, and prone to demogoguery has generated a negative moral endowment to deploy in any attempt to influence foreign governments or public opinion.