American citizens are all suspected terrorists. With new laws in place, and more being considered, we are increasingly being treated as though we are all terrorists, unless we can prove otherwise.

John Gilmore, who I have written about in the past, was once removed from a plane for wearing a "suspected terrorist" button to protest such treatment.

Provisions of the Patriot Act allow the government to demand information about customers from companies without any judicial oversight, and without informing the person whose information is obtained.

Congress is pushing toward a national identification card and internal 'security points' where all citizens are required to present their identification.

After 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft promoted a program called TIPS, which would rely on neighbors, repairmen, and postal workers, among others, to report any suspicious activity to the FBI.

Pending changes to the nation's intelligence services would increase domestic surveillance.

Within a few years, our passports and other identification will contain biometric information about us.

More and more, the burden is on us to prove that we are not terrorists, and not up to law enforcement to find the actual terrorists. In criminal cases, the accused are entitled to presumption of innocence until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

When someone is accused of being a terrorist, they are automatically assumed to be a danger to our country. It took the Supreme Court to rule that those detained as terrorism suspects were allowed to contest that assertion and have access to legal counsel.

Mindy Tucker, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said that "[The Patriot Act] is just the first step. There will be additional items to come."

Ashcroft says the Patriot Act, and similar legislation, is needed to "prevent terrorists from taking advantage of American freedoms." Apparently the task of taking over American freedoms should be left up to our own government.