Whenever one agrees with a fellow like Congressman Bob Barr, one of two things has happened. Either the medication has not kicked in, or some incredible insanity has tucked in a great many strange bedfellows. In the case of the Patriot Act and the requirement for librarians to monitor what people read, there is no medicine involved.
Mr. Barr recently addressed a group of librarians arguing that, while they shouldn't break the law, they should organize to overturn the wretched position in which the law has put them. The Patriot Act requires them to keep tabs on what people read and access on the internet. The theory is that they will spot "evil-doers" reading "bad books" and the forces of goodness and light will be able to apprehend them before the thought becomes the deed.
Consider, the most developed intelligence community in the history of the species, with the most technologically advanced equipment at its disposal, backed with war-time levels of funding, will rely on tips from librarians. In days like there, vigilance is needed from every citizen and resident -- librarians included. Anything truly suspicious should be reported, including people who seem to read up on bomb-making equipment.
To compel such monitoring does have a chilling effect. Particularly on that most civilized on institutions, the public library. Every resident of even the smallest town now has access to more books than the richest man in ancient Greece or Rome, more than Louis XIV and most popes. Surrendering that would be a catastrophe.
Besides, what people read rarely gives an insight to their thoughts and actions. On one shelf in the Kensington offices there are works by Thomas Jefferson, Adolph Hitler, Karl Marx, Alexandre Dumas, John Grisham, Stephen King, Ring Lardner, and Roy Jenkins. All that shows is a love of books and reading. A faux pas these days, but not a crime, yet.