Hell, Art, I laughed. I'm Irish-American (or as an English friend refers to me: an Upstart-Boggie) and I take no offense at Irish jokes.
And I agree with your assessment of the Patriot Act. Many bad things have had seemingly benign beginnings. I've said from the start that John Ashcroft scares me about as much as anyone does.
By the way, Good Soul, I trust you are doing well?
McMusic (Kevin)