Yessiree, the USA PATRIOT Act is nothing to be afraid of...

Unless you happen to have some credit card debt, that is. Yes, really.

This is what they call in the television and radio news biz a "teaser"...

[Walter and Deana Soehnge] paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun through customs.

They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast.

Read the rest if you think you're safe from investigation. Read it even if you don't.

(Found originally at J. Francis Lehman's blog.)