GetReal:

Don't be a total jerk, buddy; facts do not enrage. How could they? I agree the ACLU has become a stronger force, and rampant abuses are less than they were in some areas. Some of these improvements are actually improvements at law. However, the growth of law has also by necessity eroded areas of personal liberty. Banking laws are an example -- if you move money around in any amounts larger than ten grand you are going on report. The whole IRS code, while never blessed as law, has been used frequently to encroach on citizen liberties.

So I think you'll find entries on both side ofthe balance sheet, over the last 200 years.

A