[ek_hornbeck]

Do I take your statement to mean that you support the US government's newfound "right" to wiretap its own citizens without warrant?

The OP is absolutely right that the precedent for this was set with The Patriot Act which had bipartisan support under the previous administration. Isn't it remarkable how "bipartisan" all sides become when it comes to matters of expanding state power at the expense of liberty and privacy.

People who deserve to be dismissed as "so-called conservatives" aren't the enemies of the surveillance state. It is the advocates of Big Brother such as yourself, those who prefer promises of "security" to liberty.

[wideawake]

Do I take your statement to mean that you support the US government's newfound "right" to wiretap its own citizens without warrant?

Again, governments do not have "rights" - they have powers.

And we are not discussing warrantless wiretaps. We are discussing entities like phone companies and search engines sharing data they have legally collected with the NSA.

It is the advocates of Big Brother such as yourself, those who prefer promises of "security" to liberty.

Personal attacks are not a substitute for rational discourse.

[USS Johnston]

People who deserve to be dismissed as "so-called conservatives" aren't the enemies of the surveillance state. It is the advocates of Big Brother such as yourself, those who prefer promises of "security" to liberty.

Amen!