The Patriot Act ran to about 700 pages, and was given to Congress only a few hours before the vote was called, so most of our representatives had only the slightest idea of what was in it. I understand from a Congressional Representative of my acquaintance that one of the reasons that a 700 page bill got submitted so quickly was that it was merely a rehash of the infamous, McCarran Act, of 1951, which gave Sen. Joe McCarthy his power and authority. Most of it is the same wording, with "communist" crossed out and "terrorist" inserted.
The Patriot Act isunconstitutional. It is a manifesto for totalitarianism.