Jacob Sullum Recommend this article  Attorney General John
Ashcroft is on a publicity tour, promoting the USA PATRIOT Act
and preparing the public for a sequel. But just as you can't
always believe an actor who tells you his latest film is sure to
be a hit, you have to take what Ashcroft says with a grain of
salt.  Ashcroft is reacting to bad reviews from critics who say
the PATRIOT Act -- given a green light just a month and a half
after the September 11 terrorist attacks by members of Congress
who had not even read the script -- was rushed into production.
The result, they say, was a deeply flawed work in which civil
liberties make only a brief appearance.  The defense mounted by
Ashcroft's publicists makes you wonder if they've seen the same
law. Take Section 215, which authorizes the FBI to demand "any
tangible things" it considers relevant to a terrorism
investigation. Anthony Romero, executive director of the
American Civil Liberties Union, says this provision gives the
FBI "unprecedented access to pers