In the News

There have been a lot of articles about the NSA gathering list of phone calls that they have been doing since 9/11 and most of the polls show that the public in general is in favor of them collecting phone information. A the reasons most often quoted in the polls for there acceptance is that credit card companies and other businesses collect information about us all the time, so what is the big deal?

I see a major flaw in that argument, with businesses all you end up with is more junk mail or spam, but if you are on the government list you could be denied boarding on a plane fight or worst. If you call a friend with an Arab sounding name will get on a list? I you call a wrong number and that phone number is being watch, would you also get on the watch list? If you get on a list how do you get off the list? Will the list be shared with other agencies? I asked these questions before but they are worth repeating.

I am old enough to remember Watergate and also Daniel Ellsberg's the Pentagon Paper and how the FBI acted in those cases. How they felt that in the interest of “National Security” that they could conduct searches with out warrants and that lead to the down fall of one President. I am old enough to remember how the FBI helped get Regan elected governor of California. What will the government do with the information it is now collecting? Will it help some candidate that it now favors?

In a free and open democratic society the people need to be free to discussion and debate ideas with out fear. The threat of government monitoring prevents open discussion.