Obfuscating or outright lying about what the Patriot Act actually contains is no accident: It's part of the active, willing ignorance on the part of the opponents of the Bush administration to raise up a bogeyman figure. What's so silly about the council's contribution to this vacuous monologue is how seriously they take themselves while being decidedly unserious about honestly characterizing the Patriot Act.
Interesting commentary on NYC City Council's grandstanding against the Patriot Act: