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LEAD-IN BY HOST: On Wednesday evening, the American Civil Liberties Union sponsored a Town Meeting here in Houston to bring attention to the 2001 Patriot Act and a follow-up bill, commonly referred to as Patriot 2, currently being promoted by the White House administration. Sky Lanigan and Camille McKinney have more: STORY: Over 250 people crowded into a University of St. Thomas auditorium to voice their concerns over a law which many believe is the biggest blow to civil liberties in this country in recent history. [Provisions of the law include the ability to access medical, student, e-mail and library records without notification or probable cause, and to jail non-Citizens indefinitely without any charge.] The Patriot Act was rushed through Congress by a huge majority in the wake of 9/11 and the beginnings of aggression against Afghanistan. Grover Norquist, leader of a highly influential conservative lobby, Americans for Tax Reform, explains the climate surrounding the bill's passage: "A lot of good people voted for a very bad bill. They got panicked into it. The best ones are embarrassed about it. Some of them speak freely about the fact that they didn't read it and they didn't know what was in it. They were asked to vote: 'the country is under attack. Are you with us, or with them? Yes or no? It's the Patriot Act.' Frankly, I would encourage anyone to vote against anything that somebody thinks they have to name the Patriot Act." [Ambient sounds of audience clapping and cheering.] What distinguished the event were the surprising political orientations of the speakers onstage. Moderated by Laura Murphy, Legislative Director of the ACLU, the panel consisted almost entirely of officials and lobbyists far to the right of the usual civil liberties advocates. Beside Norquist, the panel included former Republican congressman Bob Barr of Georgia, who led the charge to impeach Clinton and has been called "unflinchingly conservative," and Farha Ahmad of the Muslim American Republican Caucus. The ACLU is promoting this partnership of "strange bedfellows," as their press release states, and have hired Barr as a consultant as they gear up for a major campaign to defeat the Patriot Acts. Many of the former congressman's comments were eerily similar to those usually heard from leftist activists. [Barr:] "That is why I feel and probably all of us feel so strongly about what brings us here this evening. It is not therefore - in any sense of the word - unpatriotic to criticize the Patriot Act." [Ambient sounds of audience clapping and cheering.] All of the speakers touched upon how compromised aspects of the current political system played a major role in the passage of the Patriot Act. "Most members of Congress are driven, not by love of principle or the desire to move principles forward, but by what the polls say." [Norquist also commented that conservatives must be more vigilant in protecting civil liberties now because they have so much power in Washington, and cannot rely anymore on Liberals to balance the scales. ] Less than half of the meeting was actually opened up to audience comments and many who waited in line for the microphone were not able to speak. Many of those who did were Arab-Americans, expressing fear, anger and frustration over governmental targeting of the Middle Eastern community. Closing the meeting, local ACLU attorney Annette Lamoreaux offered the organization's services on a more direct level: "Texas is one of the ACLU affiliates that offers pro-bono legal representation for people that are being interviewed by the FBI. My cell phone number, write it down, is (713) 471-0746. I get phone calls, literally, at 10 o'clock at night [sounds teary-eyed], when people have FBI agents banging on their door. Please call me. Don't let them in your house." [After this story ran, Lamoreaux explained to KPFT News Web Editor Brandon Moeller that it is best to call the ACLU Houston office's main line at (713) 942-8146, but in cases of emergencies, call her cell phone at (713) 471-0746.] One audience member suggested another direct way to help promote civil liberties awareness: "Gather at Eleanor Tinsley Park for the Power of Freedom celebration of July 4th, independence day. I want to invite all of you to help make sure that not one person who attends that celebration leaves without knowing about the Patriot Act." There are currently 3 bills being introduced in congress which attempt to repeal some of the most radical aspects of the Patriot Act. More information about them is available on the ACLU's Web site. Sky Lanigan & Camille McKinney, KPFT News, Houston. [Brackets denote content that was not broadcast because of time constraints.] E-mail Sky Lanigan & Camille McKinney at skybird@rice.edu & news@kpft.org respectively . This story was broadcast on June 27, 2003.