United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez has confirmed our worst fears.  The Patriot Act has been abused.  The United States Attorneys offices have been manipulated by Washington for political purposes, upon pain of dismissal.  The FBI is wiretapping whoever it wants.   And when caught in the act, the AG says “We have made mistakes.”

In all fairness to Mr. Gonzalez, it’s not like this comes as a surprise.  The Government is not a single entity, unified in its purpose and intent.  It’s made up of millions of Americans, each of whom thinks he or she knows what’s best for the American people.  To truly oversee these people is impossible.  To truly know the secret intent of these people is even more impossible.  But to understand people is easy.  To err is human.  From the outset, it was impossible to think that there would not be people who would abuse the awsome power they possess.

In the wake of events that drove the emotions of a nation, we acted capriciously.  Sure, we wrapped ourselves in the flag before doing so, but out elected officials were in such a rush to pander to our fears that we allowed them to give away our legacy.  We did it.  They were just the mechanism by which it was done.

I’m not going to belabor the obvious.  There is no time in history, nor set of circumstances, that justifies the suspension of reason.  The words of George Santayan come to mind: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Don’t blame the AG.   But put an end to the abuse.  And remember that the government exists to serve us, not control us.