Liberty for Security?

"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither" - Ben Franklin

This was the message sent to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday at a public address at Georgetown University as students stood up in silent protest and turned their backs to Gonzales.

Gonzales's speech is part of the Bush adminstration's effort to defend a program that allows the NSA to monitor calls to and from the US without warrants. Many experts on national security and intelligence law say the president has been in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (the Congressional Research Service came to the same conclusion).

The problem with allowing the NSA to essentially listen to whatever they want, when they want, is multifaceted, but basically boils down to this - Once we allow our freedoms to be removed, even in the face of adversity, it becomes very easy to use that 'liberty caveat' against people in ways that were not originally intended. In fact, we've already seen this in the case of the Patriot Act being used against people downloading songs, or writing bad checks. Are you a terrorist for downloading an MP3? (link)

Links to the story:
- NPR
- Chicago Tribune
- Insomnia Blog

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