An executive order made by President Reagan, which ostensibly allows spying on foreigners, is used today mainly to collect data about Americans.

The article repeats the absurd nostrum that terrorists such as al Qa'ida threatened the existence of the US. This is a ridiculous exaggeration — what they could directly do was too small to eliminate the US, and the only way they could do great harm was if the US reacted self-destructively (which it did). Since this ridiculous exaggeration was the excuse for Dubya's attacks on US human rights, and on Iraq, we must not let it pass as true. We must refute it even when someone else mentions it only in passing.

President Reagan other horrible things. He betrayed his country by supplying weapons to terrorists as ransom for the hostages they had taken. He attacked the non-rich, setting the US on the path towards today's plutocracy and expanding poverty.