It's rare we re-print an entire editorial, but this one, Smuggling Away Liberty, from Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle deserves nothing less:

WHILE THE NATION remains transfixed on the war in Iraq and distracted by the burden of a woefully downturned economy, a group of Beltway Republicans are crafting a scheme to forever wipe out the hallmarks of democracy.

With appalling guile, Republicans and the Bush administration are planning to make permanent the anti-terrorism provisions that granted the federal government unprecedent powers following Sept. 11, 2001.

The "Patriot Act," undermined due process and free speech by expanding eavesdropping and surveillance; legitimizing random looks at e-mail and other personal computer data; allowing the freezing of bank assets and monitoring of bank transactions; authorizing the indefinite and unspecified detention of citizens; and allowing warrantless searches of homes.

The act was hastily approved with no public debate. And, even if arguably justified by the Pentagon and World Trade Center horrors, it's a scary document that's marginally palatable only because it automatically expires at the end of 2005.

But with American public's eyes trained on the war, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R- Utah, has slyly proposed to repeal the "sunset" clause and make the expanded powers permanent. The plan undoubtedly will be attached to another bill to further hide it from public scrutiny.

It's an affront to the Bill of Rights, the international ideal of liberty for 215 years.

Under the guise of fighting terrorism, Hatch's plot impugns the core of democracy -- openness and accountability. It risks leaving our nation with the same political imperfections we have long despised. This time, Congress should take a long, hard look at the consequences of keeping such an act in place.