Last year, President Bush gave the National Security Agency (NSA) authorization to tap phone calls without a warrant under the guise of nation security: catching terrorist. But the gullible group of people the US has become, found that acceptable when they were told it was only for international calls. Of course, please, spy on my calls to anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago, USA Today reported<\/a> that the program does in fact gather phone records on domestic calls. Ooops. The telecom companies are now denying giving records to the NSA: Verizon link<\/a> and BellSouth link<\/a>. Of course, who’s going to verify? The government that requested these records?<\/p>\n Our ape-like president noted<\/a> that the government does not<\/a> listen to<\/i> or record<\/i> to domestic calls without a warrant. Interestingly, he didn’t confirm or deny collecting records about domestic calls. Tony Snow, the president’s new Press Secretary, said (many times) that the president’s words did not confirm any of the allegations made by USA Today. Of course, he hasn’t denied them either, that I can see.<\/p>\n The president’s main defense has consistently fallen back on the fact that he’s using all the power in his means to “protect” the American people from another attack. Many of us realize this spying provides no additional protection but does provide a path to a 1984<\/i>-like world. Worse, it provides the terrorists with exactly what they want: us to change our way of life out of fear (thats why its called terror<\/b>ism). Rather than live in a by-the-people for-the-people country where we have protection and insulation from our government democracy, we’re tumbling fast to a government that monitors everything we do and say and controls the media, entertainment, and if we’re not careful, our career choices, our lifestyles, and our personal lives. And we’re doing it out of fear<\/b>… also known as terror<\/i>. Yup, we’re not just letting them win, we’re celebrating their win. Every time we give up another freedom, we’re spitting in the graves of everyone who has ever died as a consequence of terrorism in this country, not to mention our founding fathers and the men who died to provide those freedoms for us and make this country what it has been for the last 200+ years. We’re giving their death less meaning with each passing hour.<\/p>\n However, to my shock and dismay, a recent public poll<\/a> shows support<\/i> for the program. However, one must take into account the poll was done by Fox News – the station that had every anchor downplay the importance of the USA Today story.<\/p>\n