The problem with the so-called 'patriot act' is that not only did it get wide bipartisan support after 9-11, it also has strong supporters on both the dem and repub side of congress. Plus the President and most of his high-level homeland security leadership want the patriot act very badly.
Why do they want it? Because they've been given a tough crappy job (yea, defending the US from itself is a crappy job) and they know that no matter how competently they do their job, if they miss something and another terror attack succeeds, they'll get the blame from the media and majority of Americans who barely know how to read and probably can't even spell "homeland". So as long as they're going to get blamed anyhow, they might as well have a set of unconstitutional laws that can make their crappy job a little easier.
And then if they ever get caught, they have two full lines of legal defense - First, anything is allowable in the name of homeland security, and second, they were just following orders under the law. It's how oppressive govts get started, and that's why we have the constitution. The main problem we have here is that since so much of the patriot act and subsequent spin-off regulations are shrouded in secrecy, it's almost impossible to bring it to the supreme court for a check of it's constitutionality.
What we need is a true patriot to post the entire contents, including all those secret provisions, to the internet. There are many historical precedents of disgruntled congressmen or staffers doing this, and it's certainly a better use of leaked information than saying who's wife works for the CIA, or what pentagon threat working group is running wargames against which nations. Let people really see what the govt is doing, and give the supreme court a chance to work as intended.
