>How long did it take to pass the "Patriot Act"... I seem to remember less than 3 weeks.
>I suggest that terrorists be sought/apprehended/trialed/sentenced WITHIN THE LAW.
>That's what a "free society" and "democracy" is all about... things being done in the open for all to see/know.
>Do you have an explanation, by the way, as to why an investigation on the NSA "leak" started only after the story went public despite the Administration knowing the whole story more than a year earlier? Isn't that enough of a smell to warn you that something ain't right?

No. I don't take anything reported by the media at face value, especially when the left starts screaming about it. Unlike a lot of people on this board, I have faith that Bush and his administration are doing what needs to be done to prevent more attacks, and that the actions are being done without any erosion in my constitutional rights. At this point, what I see is a conflict between the President and Congress regarding interpretation of points of law - something that they are going to need to settle, but that ultimately do NOT affect me as a citizen of the United States.

Regarding things being done in the open for all to see/know, that is a pipe dream. Governments must have the ability to do some operations in secret for the protection of the greater whole - especially in wartime. If the UK had acted on every single piece of intelligence they gleaned from ULTRA, how long do you think it would have taken the Germans to figure out that their communications were being read?