I was greatly disappointed in Wednesday night’s Banned Book Week panel discussion of the USA Patriot Act and libraries.

While the three panelists espoused the value of dissenting opinion and pluralism, the discussion was quite lacking in both. There was no debate — there were only three speakers who all agreed with equal conviction that the Patriot Act was a dangerous violation of civil liberties.

I had attended the lecture, hoping to hear an informed argument about where the line should be drawn between protecting civil liberties and protecting the security of nation. Instead, all I heard were speeches denouncing the Bush administration and John Ashcroft. Each speaker spewed more invective than the previous. One falsely linked the Patriot Act with bans on books. The next claimed that John Ashcroft was just waiting for terrorists to strike, so that he could spring the Patriot Act on an unsuspecting public.

Missing from the discussion was the fact that the Justice Department has never requested any person’s record of library book loans. This newly declassified information proves the opposition to the Patriot Act is more about stirring up hysteria, nurturing hatred for the attorney general and political grandstanding than it is about genuinely protecting privacy.

Nicole Asmussen

Junior

Political Science