CNN Poll: 50% approve of warrantless spying
According to the latest CNN/USAToday/Gallup poll, 50% of U.S. respondents indicate they're not troubled by the Bush administration's domestic spying without a court-issued warrant.
This should be troubling, to say the least. Uncontrolled domestic spying was standard procedure in the Soviet Union, among other totalitarian nations around the globe. But isn't the United States supposed to be the pillar of freedom from that sort of thing? Don't we value personal privacy? Aren't we the ones who fought the British empire in order to eliminate the long arm of governmental oppression?
One major terrorist attack and, four years after the fact, half of us are ready to throw in the towel on over 200 years worth of hard-earned rights. Geez, imagine what would have happened if we'd been hit time and time again since 2001.
I've said this before, but it still resonates with me. We could ensure our safety from terrorism by becoming a de facto Soviet Union. Close the borders (both directions), declare martial law, initiate a comprehensive surveillance operation across all methods of communication, and order unannounced door-to-door searches. Is that what we want? I certainly don't.
Living in a democracy that offers freedom from government intrusion and interference invites certain risks. If we truly believe that those freedoms are worth living - and dying - for, then we should be willing to accept those risks in order to retain the freedoms for which so many of our forbears have given their lives. Violating the personal protections that are guaranteed by our Constitution is not the way to combat those who may threaten us, regardless of whether those threats are real...or perceived.
As legendary American patriot Patrick Henry once declared: "Give me liberty or give me death!" If we give up our freedoms, is it really worth fighting for anymore?
posted by DrewL @ 8:19 PM
6 bucket fillers
6 Comments:
If this trend in popular feeling doesn't start swinging the other way soon... and I hate to say this... but maybe the terrorists have won. :-(
But looks like it's not the "terrorists" and liberals who "hate freedom" after all.
50% of U.S. respondents indicate they're not troubled by the Bush administration's domestic spying without a court-issued warrant.
Same old story, huh? Nobody is ever against it until it comes back to bite them on the ass. Worked for Germany...twice.
blueberry: Well said.
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Most Americans still can't place Iraq on a map and most wouldn't raise an eyebrow if we nuked Iraq or Iran other than for the entertainment value of it. The enlightened tailenders of the bell curve can tally up one revelation after another on Dubya and his gimpy revolutionaries and it won't budge the greater mass of the electorate further than an ant can spit.
We remain a marginal few who bother to keep track of this administration's antics and sometimes it feels more like an obsessive compulsive hobby or a penchant for a day-time soap than a serious movement to stop these fuckers. As if pointing out one more act of corruption will make a difference and then suddenly fair play will ride in on a white horse and make all right. If that were to happen then it would have happened during the election of 2000 - or certainly come the last attempt at an election.
Me thinky we in for one long drive before enuff dumbasses figure out that they've been bit. But perhaps by then it won't matter much anymore.
But hey, fascism ain't that bad when dressed in Ralph Lauren and Hilfiger. Huxley knew that.
Well said, Meatball.
Most Americans are too troubled to think about what they're going to eat for dinner or what new video game is on the market, let alone what unconscionable things their elected government is doing on a daily basis. For a nation that has been stung by all too frequent government scandals - hell, it's only been 34 years since the "original" government scandal of Watergate - this country is full of ignorance, indifference and far too much trust when it comes to our elected officials.
Sadly, the current administration is bringing new meaning to the term "scandal", yet the sheer frequency and enormity of these scandals seems to go over the heads of at least half of the population. Either that or they attempt to JUSTIFY them!!
We've begun down a very slippery slope in this country. And an alarmingly large number of people don't seem to care. If I were a religious person, I might start to pray. But I'm not, so I won't. So that leaves us all looking for more constructive and effective ways to turn the tide.
I'm surprised it's not higher! 50% of Americans would loved to be spied on. They're probably home gussyin' up in front of the mirror as we speak.
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