There is something quite frighteningly odd (or oddly frightening?) when the best example of why we should limit Patriot Act surveillance comes from a comedian, not some “trusted” main-line journalist. Right now three of the most controversial parts of the Patriot Act have expired (see “The Patriot Act Is Changing. Here’s What That Means for Your Privacy“). With the crazy election season that has Donald Trump as the Republican presidential candidate, it’s even more frightening that the framework to do all of this will still be in place. I can’t even begin to imagine how Donald Trump would use such a system to punish all those he deems his enemies, and that’s what’s truly frightening about what I call the Patriot Act System: it might be off for now, but it’s all in place, and extremely simple to use it again, even for someone as stupid as Donald Trump. We’ve already seen what can happen when a sitting President abuses his powers against his perceived enemies with Richard Nixon. Donald Trump at the controls of the surveillance state would make Richard Nixon look like a Sunday-school choir boy.