Who are they protecting? Me?!

"It was our finest hour" was the sentiment by a librarian in Newton, MA after they blocked the FBI from commandeering a computer from which a threatening email was sent. The email threatened a terrorist action against Brandeis University. The FBI had traced the email to the public computer in the Newton library and they were on their way to catching this felon.

That was when the librarian stepped in. She would not allow the FBI to search or take the computer without a warrant. It's not like the FBI couldn't get a warrant. They received one. Several hours later! Who knows where this rodent who sent the email could have gotten to in those hours.

The email was received at Brandeis at 11 am. The FBI was delayed for so long that they did not receive the computer until 11:30 pm! This was an unnecessary delay that did nothing to protect me or any other American. The only thing the delay by the library did was give the perp a longer head start than he already had! Perhaps this person had discussions with some of the librarians about the Patriot Act. Perhaps this person knew how the locals felt and also knew that if the FBI came in "un-warranted" that they would be delayed. Was this all part of his plan? Possibly.

What if there was a terrorist act completed at Brandeis? I suppose there really was a terrorist act. Some people were probably quite scared, 12 buildings had to be evacuated, and the law enforcers are now investigating this occurrence. Terrorism doesn't require death on a great magnitude, just the threat of it. So one cannot claim that there was not terrorist attack. The mere threat of it is an attack itself.

Now, what if there had been an explosion, or some other type of destruction? What if the choice by the librarian caused enough of a delay that the FBI could have stopped it, but was too late? Would we be so proud of the librarian? Or would she be under arrest as an accessory after the fact?

The only person the stalling tactic protected was the criminal. There are some that complain that those on the right say "you can't put a price on civil liberties" whenever there are laws that the left agrees with that infringe on such freedoms. However, there are those on the left who say that the Patriot Act goes too far. You can't have it both ways. Either liberties have to be protected, the Patriot Act needs to be killed, and I can drive with or without my seatbelt; or they aren't as important as we make them out to be and they can be restricted however the government sees fit.

I'll buckle my seatbelt, take off my shoes at the air port, and allow the government to see what books I've been taking out of the library if that means the FBI can catch criminals as fast as possible.

But that's all just my opinion.