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************************ PATRIOT GAMES by Chuck Muth December 21, 2003 Hearken back, dear reader, to 1970. The government decided it needed to "get tough" on organized crime, so it passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act, more commonly referred to as RICO. In the legislation, "racketeering activity" was defined as "any act or threat involving murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical." Now, fast-forward to 1986. The National Organization for Women (NOW) use RICO to sue pro-life organizations who were exercising their First Amendment rights to protest against abortion. Talk about a dramatic expansion of a piece of legislation's original intent in the span of just 16 years. But it's gotten worse. Last month Ellen Mariani, whose husband was one of the victims of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack, filed a RICO lawsuit against...President Bush, for "failing to act and prevent" the attack (http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0311/S00261.htm So whenever anyone questions why I have such grave concerns about the nature and scope of the hurriedly-passed PATRIOT Act in 2001, I immediately think of RICO. Sure, the original purpose of PATRIOT was to provide the government the tools desired to "get tough" on terrorists, but we've seen the damage done to our liberties in the past once the government camel gets his nose under our constitutional tent. Indeed, only recently we witnessed how the government's new PATRIOT powers were used in a corruption probe nicknamed "Operation G-String" in Las Vegas. The act's provisions were used to nab some elected officials with absolutely no ties to terrorism in any way, shape form or fashion...unless you consider lap-dancing a terrorist activity. And you can bet this won't be the exception that proves the rule. This is only the opening gambit. Just as government "mission creep" took RICO from its anti-mob intent and expanded it to clamp down on free speech by anti-abortion protestors, you can bet the farm that some PATRIOT provisions intended to clamp down on terrorists will one day in the not so distant future be used on ordinary non-terrorist Americans. There is legislation currently pending in Congress to roll back and/or sunset portions of the PATRIOT Act, as well as proposals for additional government powers known as PATRIOT II. This is an issue which freedom-loving Americans from coast-to-coast had better start paying attention to. As Ben Franklin warned in the days of our nation's founding, those who will trade essential liberty for a little temporary security deserve neither and will soon lose both. Based on history and the nature of the beast, there is definite potential for infringements on individual liberty and privacy embedded in the PATRIOT Act. As such, I've added a new page to our Citizen Outreach website titled, "PATRIOT Games." As we come across conservative arguments, news stories, studies, opinion columns raising legitimate concerns about the PATRIOT Act, we'll add them to the page, making it a one-stop shopping place of ideas where you can educate your friends, co-workers and neighbors on the dangers of this well-intentioned but "slippery slope" legislation. If you have any examples or documentation of PATRIOT Act abuse or danger, please forward it along to me at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] And finally, the PATRIOT Act is already stirring considerable debate on our Discussion Board. Read what others have to say and join the discussion by visiting http://blog.chuckmuth.com/blog/ Remember, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance...now, more than ever. # # # Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a non-profit public policy advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Citizen Outreach. He may be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
