I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Bush Administration must go.

A young woman was hauled off of a cruise ship and held in custody for nearly nine hours over a $50 fine she allegedly didn't pay when she was at Yellowstone Park last year. Why was she fined? She left out her hot chocolate and marshmallows! Actually, I don't have an argument with this rule because it's to keep the wildlife from entering the "people" areas (well, I do have a problem with human encroachment on wildlife areas, but that's for another blog entry).

What I do have a problem with is the fact that she had already paid the fine. She said she wasn't able to leave Yellowstone without paying the fine. Thus, she was hauled out of her cabin on the ship at 6:30 a.m. for a completely bogus reason! And I have a MAJOR problem with a federal government that would put someone in leg shackles over fifty goddamn dollars!

Need another example that Bush/Ashcroft are out of control? This beauty comes from the New Zealand Herald (excerpted below...emphasis mine...read the whole story here):

The American Civil Liberties Union said documents uncovered during court challenges to the Patriot Act reveal for the first time that the FBI sought permission last year to conduct secret searches under what is known as Section 215 of the law.

Last September, at a time when the section was drawing wide-spread criticism from librarians, booksellers and civil rights groups, US Attorney General John Ashcroft said that the power had never been used. Records obtained by the ACLU show that the FBI asked for permission to use the law a few weeks later.

The provision allows the FBI to get court permission to search confidential records, including those of businesses, doctors, universities, libraries and bookstores, as part of terrorism investigations. The target need not be a suspected terrorist and the government can review personal data without the targets ever knowing.