What We Already Knew
The ACLU released a report today on Justice Department prevarications about the PATRIOT act:
The American Civil Liberties Union today said that it has found a consistent pattern of factually inaccurate assertions by the Department of Justice in statements to the media and Congress, statements that mischaracterize the scope, potential impact and likely harm of the now-notorious USA PATRIOT Act.The ACLU’s findings were released this morning in a special report that contrasts the Justice Department’s assertions about the USA PATRIOT Act with the language of the Act itself, and in some cases contrasts the Justice Department’s public statements with language from internal Justice Department memoranda that the ACLU was able to obtain through a Freedom of Information Act request. The report – “Seeking Truth From Justice” – cites about a dozen specific instances in which Justice Department and other law enforcement officials misrepresented the scope or impact of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Come on, people! This is first grade stuff. You don't lie, you don't cheat, you don't steal. Sometimes when you do, you think for awhile that you're winning, but what you find out is, at the end, you either lost it all or you guaranteed that there was nothing left to 'win.'