Victor Davis Hanson: "The Real Threat to Civil Liberties"

Now for a conservative voice: Victor Davis Hanson opines on numerous issues he finds more onerous to civil liberties than the Patriot Act. He justifies the Patriot Act by saying "at least the Patriot Act passed both houses of Congress with wide public support." I find that claim thin -- the passage of the Patriot Act was more about fear than rational support. It passed so quickly that most Congresspeople (and most Americans) had no idea what all was included in the Justice Department's wish list, which it had kept on the shelf since the Oklahoma City bombings, waiting for the right moment of national hysteria to slide it through Congress.

Nonetheless, Hanson's arguments on other dangers to civil liberties -- illegal immigration, prosecutorial malfeasance in the service of political agendae, eminent domain for private profit, and the kerfuffle (somewhat artificial, but it's out there) about reviving the Fairness Doctrine -- bear reading.