pdc,

Your post of 26 Nov 03 - 06:29 PM, I couldn't agree more. They should be taken to the cleaners.

Don Firth - 26 Nov 03 - 12:33 PM

"..Hitler insisted on passing something very similar to the Patriot Act in order to clamp down on Communists and "enemies of the state" and he (Hindenberg) signed it. If you read the law that Hitler drafted and compare it with stipulations of the Patriot Act, the wording is spookily similar."

Hardly surprising that the wording might be spookily similar, but what is completely different is the intent behind each. The former was aimed at what one particular group regarded as an "enemy within" that had to be neutralised in order to gain complete control. The latter (Patriot Act) was aimed at streamlining the process, and improve intelligence gathering and law enforcement in order to protect US citizens from an external threat.