You LIE. People LIE. Politicians, as people, ALSO LIE. It is our job as American Citizens to BE VIGILANT, to make sure the people we elect ARE DOING THEIR DUTY in an HONEST WAY. There are better ways to protect this country than violently raping the constitution.

Listen, I’m all for national security. We need to protect the people of the nation with the resources that we have.

That being said, allowing the government warrantless “emergency” wiretaps is just flat out friggin’ stupid. How many steps are we from making it illegal to criticize the government? Three, maybe four? This warrantless wiretap system would basically enable the government to do whatever they want. There is no definition of the “emergency” situations this could be used for.

That means that the “emergency” is relative to the person instigating the warrantless wiretap. Combine this with a few other acts: the USA Patriot Act and the USA Patriot Act II.

Under the USA Patriot Act, an individual can be imprisoned for any length of time without trial for association with “terrorist” activities. These “terrorist” activities are largely undefined. What’s more, people imprisoned like this lose their right to a trial, which is the only place they could appeal their imprisonment.

The USA Patriot Act II strengthens the USA Patriot Act by allowing the government to question your friends, family, employers, library, and anything in the private sector without telling you. They can request your credit score without telling you. They can do this and then order everyone they’ve talked to not to tell you. They can arrest you and not tell your family or friends why you were arrested, where you are or when you will be released.

This FISA amendment in itself is not an entirely evil act; it grants immunity to telecom companies who work with the government to violate your rights from lawsuits. What it does is it supports an illegal system, the President’s illegal warrantless wiretapping system.

As long as this system stays in place, as long as we citizens do not rest control of our rights from the government, we will be in danger of becoming something quite like the Soviet Union.

Wake the hell up. The founding fathers granted us these rights; no, I correct myself, we HAVE these rights no matter what, that’s the point the founders were trying to make. The rights are layed out in the constitution TO PROTECT US FROM A SITUATION LIKE THIS. A government whose power is GOING TO ITS HEAD. If things continue like this it will not be long until we are a POLICE STATE.

Careful guys, watch what you say. Given that the government has been trying to force Blogs and other grassroots campaigns (read: people who disagree with the government) to register with Congress. If that ever takes effect, that means that they will have a list of people who actively disagree! It’s a lot easier to watch the malcontents when you’ve got a list of their names.

I believe that the safety of all AMERICANS warrants the use of wire taps. Those who oppose it, I believe might have something to hide or be ashamed of.

Just look at some of the plots that have been nipped in the bud because of these taps. Better to be safe than sorry.

Pete Connolly

Given the open-ended nature of the “war” against terrorism, I think all citizens should be concerned about the continued erosion of the rule of law.

People who are concerned about ‘domestic spying’ shouldn’t be: Nobody cares about what you have to say.