Big brother in the bookstore Many legislators on Capitol Hill will own up to supporting the Patriot Act, even with some of its more noxious provisions, in a 9/11-induced haze. But there are a few politicians in Washington -- especially those surrounding President Bush -- who continue to insist that, somehow, keeping track of what books ordinary Americans check out of the library will stop the next al-Qaida plot. Bush himself seems intent on keeping every part of the law on the books, a fact underscored yesterday when the White House threatened to veto a spending bill if it contained amendments weakening the government's power to spy on Americans' reading habits. Salon