A. Barton Hinkle on How Big Government Erodes the Constitution
"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground," wrote Thomas Jefferson. Two hundred and twenty-seven years to the month after he proposed that theory, we have yet another case study to prove it.
As A. Barton Hinkle observes, Congress has until the end of the month to extend or modify the Patriot Act, passed in the panicky aftermath of 9/11. One of the sticking points has been the dragnet surveillance of Americans' telephone activity by the National Security Administration that Edward Snowden exposed to the world two years ago.