Submitted by serena1313, Dec 28, 2006 01:25

While I can appreciate the fact many are misled into believing Americans are safer with wiretaps, but the government does so without probable cause and outside the law. Meanwhile there is no oversight, no legal protection for citizens nor accountability to the courts. That is very unsettling and anyone who believes otherwise needs to brush up on history during the McCarthy era.

Furthermore although it's been well reported and documented most Americans do not realize the extent of the programme. What it involves is called layering; it resembles concentric circles IMHO. The first layer consists of the suspect's family and friends. Likewise those family members' friends and their family members are the next layer--regardless whether they know the suspect or not -- so on and so forth ....

During this process the government collects everything possible about each individual. In other words they are putting together a dossier on you and me. It contains personal information: bank records, charities, profession, pet names, subscriptions to magazines, etc., social security numbers, medical records, et al. Moreover that information can be easily mistakenly misinterpreted. Therein exists further danger.

Anyone --including Americans --connected in the slightest way might get swept up in an arrest, but are completely innocent! Imagine if you were arrested and denied recourse in the courts to prove your innocence!

"Liberals" are not against wiretapping nor are they the only ones who want the Bush administration to follow the law, conservatives do also, as everyone should. There is absolutely NO reason whatsoever why the NSA cannot acquire a warrant in keeping within the law. Are we a nation of laws or a nation of men?

Absent oversight and accountability Americans become positioned as vulnerable, unprotected citizens. That is not what this country is about. Plus the government can only do so much to protect its citizens. We do not have to give up our rights to be protected. America is only as strong as the citizens themselves. Outside enemies are not going to bring down this country, however, losing our freedoms can and will. Giving up freedom for a faux security will be all for naught.

Allowing the government to circumvent the law means we will have relinquished every thing that made America unique and a beacon of hope for the rest of the world for 200 years.

Thus the enemies win, and we lose!

What a pity.

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