Civil liberites: Not of the marital variety, though. Arnold Beichman, on NRO, confronts the hysteria of those who think the Patriot Act is the worst thing since New Coke, and he's pretty sharp.

Of course, the ultimate proof of the state of freedom in the U.S. is the fact that books deploring the alleged narrowing of civil liberties and attacking the Bush administration are published without hindrance and will continue to be ? and the authors will go on to write more books about the curbing of Americans' fundamental rights.

Good point, well said, etc. But then he finishes with this gross, overreaching statement.

Yet who cannot but wonder that had the Patriot Act been in place on September 11, 2001, the 2,752 victims of terrorism would be alive today and the Twin Towers would still be standing because the 19 hijackers would never have been allowed to board, let alone seize the four airliners?

What? The Patriot Act may or may not have been any help in preventing that particular case of terrorism. I hope it's helping to prevent future acts. But if you're going to imply that 9/11 was preventable and that critics of the Patriot Act see it as a reasonable tradeoff for unfettered library privelages, you can't tag that line onto the end and walk away.