I fear you may have opened a can of worms (as we say in the southern part of the US).
I'm as cynical as a guy can be. Having worked for the government for most of my life, it makes it even worse. Although I don't do much now in the way of what I used to do when I was in the military...I still keep my "view" on what the government here does. When I was in the military, I worked in intel (for most of my time). I even worked at the infamous NSA (for outsiders, that's the National Security Agency) facility for a year.
So, accordingly, I have a lot of opinions on the subject you mention:
1- I love my country and wouldn't really want to live anywhere else but the US has its faults. It's a bully nation. An arrogant nation. And a nation filled with dirty tricks. But, I tell myself, perhaps it has to be that way. I'll never really know or understand fully, I suspect.
2- I wonder if the Patriot Act (one need only look at the name to see the "spin" already starting...JEEZ!) was something the government wanted to do all along and just found the WTC and 9-11 disaster the proper excuse. They needed a good reason to inact this stuff and the WTC gave it to them. Before that, it would never have been approved.
3- The sort of thing you mention below reminds me of WW2..where we assumed anyone with slanted eyes (I don't mean that in a bad way...just using a somewhat derogative term for effect) was a potential enemy...and confined them. We are still paying reparations for that. I certainly wouldn't want to be "pigeon-holed" because of the way I looked!
4- It also reminds me of the US Civil War. (see the Gods and Generals thread
) As a study in college, I learned a lot about how civil rights were restricted during that time as well. And for the same reason...to preserve and protect the Union. The president broke more rules during that time than had ever been broken before. For example, if a journalist in the North wrote something negative about the North's stance, s/he could be jailed for no reason at all. Funding for the war broke all sorts of regulations and laws. But, alas, I sort of understand.
5- I frequent a convenience store down the street and the guy is from the Middle East. I forget where. But he is the friendlist guy I've met in a store. I sometimes spend 1 minute buying stuff and 5 minutes chatting. Once in a while, I wonder if he could be doing any thing that was against the US and that I am an idiot. When that happens, I hate myself for thinking it...then I think to myself, what if I am wrong and something does happen. It's a problem and worry that a lot of people may have, I think.
6- I tell myself that I shouldn't worry about increased "monitoring" by the government. After all, if I'm doing nothing wrong...I have nothing to worry about. But, on the other hand, I don't like the idea that the government may be reading this thread and wondering if I'm a threat. Who knows what they are capable of thinking and doing when they read the least bit of dissention into a comment like this.
As I said, you may have opened a can of worms here.