The truth of the matter seems to be that while some portions of the Patriot Act are truly radical, others are benign. Parts of the act formalize and regulate government conduct that was unregulated—and potentially even more terrifying—before. Other parts clearly expand government powers and allow it to spy on ordinary citizens in new ways. But what is most frightening about the act is exacerbated by the lack of government candor in describing its implementation. FOIA requests have been half-answered, queries from the judiciary committee are blown off or classified. In the absence of any knowledge about how the act has been used, one isn't wrong to fear it in the abstract—to worry about its potential, since that is all we can know.

Ashcroft and his supporters on the stump cite a July 31 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll showing that 91 percent of registered voters say the act had not affected their civil liberties. One follow-up question for them: How could they know?

President Bush called Wednesday for expanded police powers to fight terrorism, urging Congress to pass legislation that would deny bail to terrorism suspects and make it easier to execute those who are convicted.

Declaring that he wants to "untie the hands of our law enforcement officials," Bush also endorsed a proposal that would bypass traditional protections on the use of subpoenas so that prosecutors could more easily seize records and other evidence in terrorism cases.

In a healthy democracy, the grave act of going to war wouldn’t be justified under false pretenses and false impressions. Plus, government officials responsible for spreading false rationales wouldn’t be allowed to slide away from the first batch of lies and distortions to begin offering a new set of slippery excuses.

Painful as it is to recall those planes smashing into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon two years ago this week, it's nearly as heartbreaking to think back on the moment of nascent harmony that ticked in the wake of the attack—until President Bush decided to reject the opportunity that History thrust before him.

Under the direction of Attorney General John Ashcroft, the Department of Justice has undermined the constitutional rights of all Americans as it has prosecuted a war on terrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to a new report released today by People For the American Way Foundation. At the same time, Ashcroft has continued to press his ideology into practice at the Justice Department, reversing the department’s position in civil rights cases, launching a campaign to threaten the independence of federal judges and second-guessing prosecutors on death penalty cases. ...

“Taken together, the details of this report, as well as our previous reports on Ashcroft and the Justice Department, paint an extremely distressing picture of a zealot who sees himself, at times, above the law and above the Constitution he swore to uphold,” Neas said. “In Ashcroft’s America, immigrants are guilty until proven innocent, civil rights enforcement is optional, and the Bill of Rights can be overridden by the stroke of a pen. And that is simply unacceptable.”

From Asia to Europe to Africa, President Bush's televised appeal Sunday night for international help in rebuilding Iraq drew as much scorn as sympathy in the online media. Only a response in India offers encouragement to an administration scrambling to regain its war footing.