Dean Schabner of ABC News reports that cities across the country have been quietly staging a revolt against the USA Patriot Act, saying it gives law enforcement too much power and threatens civil rights.

Three of the cities are Berkely, CA, Cambridge, MA and Ann Arbor, MI. Those who spent their college years protesting there thirty years ago are undoubtedly proud to see that these college towns are still fertile hotbeds of skeptism and activism when it comes to the federal government.

City officials in Denver, the largest city to pass the resolution and the home of TalkLeft, said their resolution was a reaffirmation of Denver's commitment to civil liberties. We always knew this was a great place to live...

Why was the public so overwhelmingly in favor of this new law? Our view: Because after September 11, the Bush/Ashcroft Administration did a remarkable job of instilling the fear of terrorism in the heart of every American. What's wrong with the USA Patriot Act? It is an unnecessary piece of legislation that will strip away our civil liberties while not making us any safer from terrorism.

If you are into legalese, you can read the text of the Act yourself here, courtesy of Epic, the Electronic Privacy Information Center .

If you would like to read a section by section analysis of the Act with some critical commentary, you can pay $19 to LexisNexis and order the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001: An Analysis by Stanley Mailman, Jeralyn E. Merritt, Theresa M. B. Van Vliet, Stephen Yale-Loehr. Book Description and On-Line Order Form. Full Disclosure: TalkLeft is a co-author but we don't get royalties or commissions.

Do we really want the FBI monitoring our Fourth of July parades?