It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is happily abusing the ill-conceived USA Patriot Act every chance it gets. The latest abuse centers on the use of "national securiity letters," which the FBI can issue demanding information on American citizens. Issued by the FBI without review by a judge, the letters are used to obtain electronic records from "electronic communications service providers." Such providers include Internet service companies but also universities, public interest organizations and almost all libraries, because most provide access to the Internet.

The use of national security letters dates back to the 1970s, when they were no doubt used to allow the FBI to investigate citizens on then-President Richard Nixon's "Enemies List," although possibly they used them for non-political purposes as well.

What the USA Patriot Act did was removed the requirement that the records sought be those of someone under suspicion. Now why, the average citizen must ask him- or herself, does the FBI need to browse the records of citizens who are not under suspicion of something? Why did the USA Patriot Act remove that restriction? To enable the FBI to conduct fishing expeditions? Doesn't that fall clearly under the unreasonable search and seizure protections American citizens used to be assured by virtue of the Constitution of the United States?

Since the passage of the USA Patriot Act, the FBI has issued more than 30,000 national security letters allowing investigations each year, a hundred-fold increase over historic norms, The Washington Post reported Sunday, quoting unnamed government sources.

"We should be looking at that very closely," said Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del), who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It appears to me that this is, if not abused, being close to abused."

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, agreed, saying the government's expanded power highlights the risks of balancing national security against individual rights.

Well, DUH guys. I'm glad the obvious occasionally gets your attention.