Jimmy Carter on the Patriot Act

‘Carter, speaking Tuesday at the Carter Center in Atlanta, said the Patriot Act, profiling of Muslims and holding suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay run counter to the principles of democracy the United States preaches to the rest of the world. “They have been held in prison without access to their families, or a lawyer, or without knowing the charges against them,” Carter said. “We’ve got hundreds of people, some of them as young as 12, captured in Afghanistan, brought to Guantanomo Bay and kept in cages for what is going on two years.” Carter said it’s difficult for international aid workers to spread the message of human rights to places like Cuba, Africa and the Middle East when the U.S. government doesn’t practice fairness and equality.

“I have never been as concerned for our nation as I am now about the threat to our civil liberties,” Carter said.’

I always had a soft spot for Carter. Now I know why. [Full report of his speech]