It's baaaack....

Looks like the Republicans are once again trying to sneak parts of the discredited "PATRIOT 2" bill through Congress, this time by attaching them to the fiscal 2005 intelligence authorization bill. As described by the American Library Association's Washington Office Newsletter and in this news story, the bill (HR 3179) would automatically issue gag orders for all "national security letters", expand the penalties and enforcement of such gag orders, and permit the government to "conduct secret surveillance on suspected terrorists or spies without proving that they have any affiliation with a foreign government or terrorist organization."

Is it a coincidence that this follows just a few months after this incident, in which the Bush Administration's enforcers in the FBI were forced by unfavorable and unwanted publicity to back off on their demand for the membership rolls and other internal information about a left-wing activist group? If your administration's activities displease the public, why, then, just outlaw public knowledge of them! Simple, right?

How, exactly, enquireth your Humble Correspondent, is this compatible with democracy?

For an administration that brags so much about its devotion to Christian morality, the Bushies seem much more interested in hiding their activities under bushels than in the intellectual implications of Bible verses such as John 8:32: You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.