Printed in the Herald-Times, September 4, 2012

I am the author of the very first letter to the editor published in the Herald-Times criticizing the Patriot Act. I lobbied the Bloomington City Council to pass a resolution against the Patriot Act in 2003.

While I vehemently disagree with President Obama on a wide variety of issues and will vote against him again, I had hoped that one positive thing that would come from his election four years ago would be a greater respect for civil liberties, especially after his party had been so critical of President Bush's record on civil liberties.

No such luck. Obama re-authorized the Patriot Act, allowing continued overreach of federal power and the ability to monitor Americans.

That is not all. The Obama administration has drastically increased the use of drone strikes, including one to assassinate an American citizen who had not even been charged with a crime, much less convicted of a crime. Now we are increasingly seeing drones used for surveillance here in America.

Obama has continued to sell military equipment to local police, raising more civil liberties concerns.

To Democrats who had the same hopes I did, I have a question.

How's that hope & change workin' out for ya?