I am a liberal patriot and I have concerns about where America is. Read bottom to top.

If ever a bill had a counterfeit name, it is the Patriot Act. Under the guise of anti-terrorism and safety and security amalgamated as patriotism, the upcoming vote to expand this act will erode and usurp freedoms we assume as given. These freedoms cost the lives of over a million of our sons and daughters who paid the price over the generations since July 4, 1776. Among these rights are Constitutional protection from search, seizure and surveillance. Now Congress would have you cede these rights, and more, in return for safety and security. Well friends, freedom is not free: nor is it safe. It is downright risky and can even prove fatal. But I prefer the risk to giving up my freedom, even one iota of it. Indeed, what is the acceptable exchange rate? As for me, 1 gram of freedom for a pound of safety is too dear. Beware of those who would trade freedom for safety: they will soon have neither. Contact your Congressman and both Senators and urge them to vote the way you see it, but if McConnell, Bunning and Chandler want my vote next time, their vote must be nay this time.