If you give FedGov an inch, they'll take a mile. International calls, telegrams, faxes and whatnot have been routinely monitored for ages (See the book "Puzzle Palace"). This shift to a total survellance society will not enhance the freedom of our children one bit. They may well curse us for sitting on the sidelines while their future liberty was traded for the false illusion of security.
"A lot of folks here on Free Republic are supportive of the government's wholesale survellance of the citizens of this country"
What about the war on terror is not worth supporting 100 percent? I do not know many who wish to have rules for everyone except me. That seems Liberal talk, not FR.
Transmission of encoded messages during wartime is "PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE OF ESPIONAGE" That is the American law.