Polls show most Americans are not worried about President Clinton's new head of the NSA.
Posted on 05/12/2006 6:27:29 AM PDT by ziggy_dlo
A majority of Americans initially support a controversial National Security Agency program to collect information on telephone calls made in the United States in an effort to identify and investigate potential terrorist threats, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it. A slightly larger majority--66 percent--said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made, the poll found. Underlying those views is the belief that the need to investigate terrorism outweighs privacy concerns. According to the poll, 65 percent of those interviewed said it was more important to investigate potential terrorist threats "even if it intrudes on privacy." Three in 10--31 percent--said it was more important for the federal government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats. Half--51 percent--approved of the way President Bush was handling privacy matters. Since then, the agency began collecting call records on tens of millions of personal and business telephone calls made in the United States. Word of the program sparked immediate criticism on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and Republicans criticized the effort as a threat to privacy and called for congressional inquiries to learn more about the operation. In the survey, big majorities of Republicans and political independents said they found the program to be acceptable while Democrats were split. President Bush made an unscheduled appearance yesterday before White House reporters to defend his administration's efforts to investigate terrorism and criticize public disclosure of secret intelligence operations.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Sounds like it is controversial to the Washington Post newsroom, not to the public.
The only thing I am disappointed about it- if the NSA is in effect going to collect and store my phone bill, why wont they pay it too?
:)
Well all these programs kinda piss me off. Just kick the damm illegals out of the country, reform immigration, don't grant visas to people from terrorist states, put up two walls, get rid of this idea of political correctness which allowed the 9/11 attacks to proceed...THEN THERE WOULD BE NO NEED TO SCREW WITH THE CONSTITUTION AND OUR RIGHTS!
Of course the Washington Post Newsroom is made up entirely of the 24% of the people who strongly objected to it. It is all part of their 'diversity'....
THE ONLY CONTROVERSY (WITH THE PRESS) IS THAT IT IS A BUSH PROGRAM. IF IT IS A BUSH PROGRAM IT IS BAD.
If the NSA has a phone number of a possible terrorist I would expect them to cross-reference numbers to see who they are calling and why.
You would think that would be the logical conclusion, but the left grows conspiracy theorists by the bushel.
See this thread, same poll
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1631027/posts
Polls show most Americans are not worried about President Clinton's new head of the NSA.
It's all Bush's fault if only he solved World Hunger and made all the leaders of all the country's come together and sing kumbaya none of this would be happening right now... whoa is us, whoa is us...
66% of Americans are idiots. Conservative=freedom=FREE Republic. We're at WAR: Why can't the White House spy on the ENEMY, instead of its own citizens?
It's pathetic. I know I don't post as much as most other people here, but IMHO not only is this thing going to bite the president, eventually, it's going to take down the party if we don't distance ourselves from it. It is NOT Republican. It is NOT American. It HASN'T been done before, ever, like this. And there sure as hell isn't anything Conservative about it. It's good old Stalinist, Maoist, COMMUNIST abuse of power. Let's remember OUR values, even when the White House can't.
I need a Republican horse to get behind in 08 who isn't afraid to say this.
sorry about that searched for something pertaining to it but the search popped up nothing
Yeah, I try not to believe too many polls but I think this one is probably pretty accurate. Still, it won't keep the usual suspects from just bluring the whole thing into yet another Big Brother 1984 talking point. The funny thing is that people who are upset about this have absolutely no problem with the fact that every year we have to report to the Government every penny we earn and every asset we have...so the Gov't can make sure things are "fair" (that 4-letter word again).
On-line since 1999, it didn't stop 911 and how many actual "terrorists" have been caught by spying on Americans?
had not though about it that way thanks for the insight.
Afraid to say it? It's a reality. Are you upset at having to file income tax too? You should be, where's the privacy there? Was it wrong for FDR to read and censor the mail? Should prosecutors pull medical records? Does the Gov't have a right to know your medical records if they are paying for your care? All things to think about.
IMO, this nonsence won't stop until Hillary gets to the WH and conservatives start to once again advocate conservative positions.
It's so good to know you think 66% of Americans are idiots and you, of course, can teach us all a thing or two. The White House isn't "spying" on anyone. Try to refrain from knee-jerking...
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