"And oh yes, lest we forget: we created the first democratically inspired nation in a world full of kings and kingdoms. Which brings me to our latest challenge. " says Joan

That might anger the Athenians.

"Now your house can be searched without warrant. Secretly."

Uh...actually not Joan. They still have to have a warrant and they still have to tell you about it they just don't have to tell you right away

"Now your bank records can be turned over to the government without your having been informed. "

Nope, that one they could do before.

"Now your phones can be tapped without proof of cause. "

Nope, not true Joan

Jeanetta (1:51:41 AM): joannie... call her joannie

"Now the government has the right to access any information about you without your knowledge, including the books you've checked out of the local public library. "

Jeanetta (1:51:48 AM): OOH! joanniekins!
Jeanetta (1:51:54 AM): let's call her joanniekins

Well, they still can't get your confession, they can't get anything you only have inside your head and decline to tell them, they can't get unknowable information about you, but why be rigorous Joanie, it's not like lives are at stake...oh wait...

"Now you can be held without charge and without legal counsel for indefinite periods of time. Prisoners taken in Afghanistan and held in Guantanamo Bay have been there for over two years without access to lawyers or contact with their families, without protection from either the Geneva Conventions or the U.S. Constitution. In Russia it was called a "gulag.""

Actually Joanie, you did get a trial before you went to the gulag, which was a really irritating thing about it. If they didn't want to give you a trial, they just shot you.

Jeanetta (1:54:10 AM): joanniekins can't be bothered by little things like facts!

"And even if it weren't, it is exactly the kind of creeping national criminalism that has marked the decline of every great nation in the history of the world. "

Actually Joanie, "criminalism" is the state of being a criminal. "Criminalization" is the making of things criminal.