Common sense? What's that doing here? Don't you know that you can't make an arguement for anything unless you take your point to a bizarre absolute?
Most people seem to be stuck in one of two panic mode absolutes.
PANIC: FOR "If we don't let the government do whatever it wants to keep us safe, atomic weapons will start going off in major cities by Thursday."
and
PANIC: AGAINST "If we give up any rights at all, we'll become a police state. Wiretapping Al Qaida members in the U.S. is only a step away from death camps for anyone that disagrees with the State."
Internet message boards tend to accentuate that, don't they? And politics (sound bites) in general. Oh well . . .