Instapundit on Patriot Act

Instapundit notes a basic problem with the Patriot Act:

Okay, see, the problem with this is that it has nothing to do with terrorism. Putting it in the Patriot Act just reinforces my fears -- present since the beginning -- that this had more to do with finding an excuse to enact bureaucratic wishlists into law than with protecting us from terrorism. And Feinstein's presence, alas, indicates that the Democrats are just as bad as the Republicans on this. Nonetheless, this is a dumb idea, it undercuts the entire rationale for the Patriot Act, and it's a reason to be suspicious of the whole renewal enterprise.

This has been a flaw from the beginning. Most of the provisions in the Patriot Act had been sought for years by conservatives. The 9/11 attacks simply provided an unchallengable backdrop to argue for these new powers. Of course the legislation never imposed the restriction that the expanded powers were only for anti-terrorism cases, and they were promptly applied to all kinds of other investigations, such as getting evidence against a corrupt strip club owner. (Stripper terrorists? Were they that ugly?)