And Big Brother is stealing it, along with your democracy, your Constitution and your family.

We already know the president any president - can declare you a terrorist and have you imprisoned for extended periods of time while suspending your rights. That precedent has been set already. Recent Supreme Court rulings mean it won’t take years to overcome, but months are possible. And now, with a pending bipartisan ‘deal’ the means to lock you up are simple: the government can spy on you and make false claims if something they hear bothers them.

You could belong to a club or group that has one member who raised money for another group that might be secretly aiding a terror group.

You could be planning to take part in a protest.

You could be fudging on your taxes, fibbing to an employer, flirting with someone besides your spouse, looking at a porn video, discussing your dislike of a politician, having a confessional talk with a minister, talking to a psychologist about a confidential problem.

Whatever. It could even be completely innocent words mistaken as meaning something else.

Bam. You’re imprisoned. For months.

Not once has any evidence been shown that they ever captured a real terrorist this way. Not. Once.

The only folks protected by this bill are the spies, the companies that broke the law. And remember, some companies refused to say yes to the president because they knew it would break the law. The president is not above the law. He has no special wisdom above the people who wrote the Constitution. He has a terrible record of being wrong, over and over again. And what if our next president is worse?

If the companies broke the law, they can be sued. That’s it. No-one goes to jail. They just have to answer to their shareholders and they learn not to break the law again.

So why does Steny Hoyer lean on all members of Congress to protect those companies from being held responsible? There is no reason that makes any sense. If it’s so damn important, why will they let the law expire in 2012?

This is unAmerican. Congress is sworn to defend the Constitution and anyone who signs this bill is failing their number one job. Why?

What pork-laden bills is Bush agreeing to, to get this done? Will either party ever act as an opposing party again? Their job is to defend us, not criminal businessmen. Russ Feingold has spoken out against it.

Consider what David Kurtz adds, too.

Consider pg 5 of what Dan Froomkin writes about the other black mark of illegality this president’s been involved in.

They’re hiding what they already know. Possibly about you.

So many people are otraged that it’s impossible to get to the Firedoglake link right now. But that’s not enough. We need YOU to help fight this, too.

Write or phone your Senators and Representative right now. Tell them you will donate time and donations to defeat anyone and everyone who votes for this bill.

This is America still. Try not to let it be stolen away.

Digby has more you should consider.