Next Homeland Security chief is a Patriot Act fan [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik is reported to be 
the successor to Tom Ridge:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/02/homeland.security/index.html

He's talked at length before about how much he adores the Patriot Act:

http://www.nationalreview.com/kerry/kerry200405260723.asp
> "We don't have to replace the Patriot Act, we have to make sure we have it," Kerik said in a conference call to reporters Tuesday. 
> "Nobody knows and understands this more importantly than I do. I was here on September 11 in New York City. I fought the war against the Cali 
> Cartel.... If you take the Patriot Act away, if you replace it, if you attempt to change it, it's going to remove a lot of the necessary tools that 
> we need to do our job in law enforcement, and I just think it's absurd..."

Even going on a kind of Patriot Act victory tour during the presidential 
campaign:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/176395_patriot04.html?source=rss
http://www.theolympian.com/home/specialsections/Election2004/20040604/66107.shtml

A (relatively small) portion of the Patriot Act is scheduled to expire 
at the end of next year. Bush is stumping for its renewal:
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5144203.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news

Also during Kerik's tenure, the NYPD conducted "voluntary" interviews of 
scores of Middle Eastern men with the misfortune of being born in 
countries with suspected terrorist links:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=45352&tacodalogin=no

-Declan
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