Librarians

San Mateo Daily Journal
Thursday
August 30 2007 Home Local News State / National / World Sports Opinion / Letters Business Arts / Entertainment Lifestyle Obituaries Letters
Librarians are not the threatEditor,Once President Bush reauthorized the Patriot Act, the FBI lifted the librarians’ gag order. This eliminated the possibility that the NSL provisions would be struck down. Today, the librarians are the only ones who can talk about life with an NSL gag, despite the likelihood that there are hundreds if not thousands of other similar stories out there. The prison term for violating the gag order was added to the reauthorized Patriot Act. The United States has reached a sorry state when librarians are considered a national security threat because they won’t turn over lists of books that people are checking out and reading. The real threat to America’s freedom is the hare-brained politicians and security officials who come up with such ideas and who are ready to throw innocent people into jail if they don’t comply with their unjust laws.
Ted Rudow III,MA Menlo Park