Posted on 12/29/2005 9:01:59 AM PST by Nicholas Conradin
This will be remembered as the year in which mass surveillance became normal, even popular. Revelations about the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping rocked the civil liberties establishment, but the country as a whole didn't seem upset. Instead, the American people, mindful of the possible danger that we face, seem happy enough that Uncle Sam is taking steps to keep up with the challenges created by new technology. Ask yourself: Do you think it's a bad idea for the feds, as U.S. News & World Report mentioned, to monitor Islamic sites inside the United States for any possible suspicious radiation leaks?
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
There are lessons of history to refer to. Lincoln violated many civil liberties during the civil war, they returned after the conflict. Wilson and Roosevelt did the same. Roosevelt incarcerated tens of thousands without justification, that didn't continue and now we are rightfully ashamed.
That is one of the reasons I question our policy of bringing our democracy and way of life, to other nations.
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."
See, I disagree. We're not like the British. They have a history of being pushed around by their kings and lords. That's not our history and I doubt we'd stand for something like that.
Look at the anger people have over the traffic light cameras (to catch those who run red lights) here.
They installed those in super blue, uber liberal Philadelphia and there's enough public outcry that I think they may remove them. You try hooking that up to a monitoring data base, and you'll have every politico in support of it looking for a real job next election cycle.
Owl_Eagle
"You know, I'm going to start thanking
the woman who cleans the restroom in
the building I work in. I'm going to start
thinking of her as a human being"
Here's hoping you're right and I'm wrong.
I was thinking the same thing. No one would find my calls all that interesting. LOL
I think nowadays, it will be harder and harder to get anything turned back to the way it was before 9/11. I will still rather take my chances on safety and secutity, and keep my liberties as an American.
Nobody seems to have any qualms about the IRS knowing how much money you make.
I have not seen anywhere, including in the NYT, the names of these "Americans". Being a Fifth Columnist is not a qualification for citizenship.
By all means... spill the beans on all the NSA's activites here at FR.
From reading your posts, you seem somewhat bitter at the NSA and have an agenda but I dont want to draw any conclusions...
"By all means... spill the beans on all the NSA's activites here at FR.
From reading your posts, you seem somewhat bitter at the NSA and have an agenda but I dont want to draw any conclusions..."
I have absolutely no bitterness toward the NSA. You will never read anything from me revealing any factual information regarding the NSA. Even though I was there in the late 60's, I'm still prohibited from discussing the activities of that agency.
If you are interested in the NSA, there are several books available on the agency.
There have been times of extreme urgency when Constitutional Rights have been suspended in the past.
They were always restored after the emergency.
Onlt the paranoid and criminal need worry.
As one Freeper pointed out to me yesterday, we'll just change the laws once a Democrat is in office. Yeah, right.
As if Democrats follow the law anyway...
Exactly. As if LIBS need laws and Acts to take liberty away from the people. They do it today against the law.
The Law or lack of one never stopped any LIB from taking your liberty...
It is a strawman choice.
It is a false premisis
Agreed. Because of this so-called "mass surveillance" this bridge still stands...
Over at DU they are convinced that the Ohio Army National Guard is spying on their computers L0L
Why are they scanning our ports?
One fellow was skeered because he had his ports scanned by an unknown entity which only left its IP address 189.125.83.217
I didnt have the heart to tell him thats microsoft!
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