catholicsphere

I’ve got to say that it’s scary to think that our government can readily eavesdrop on phone conversations and emails, without a warrant, and without “probable cause”.

“September 11th gave us ‘probable cause’”, some may say.

If it did, then the terrorists accomplished more than just the deaths of a few thousand people, and striking fear in the country and the world. They also forced the revocation of some rights guarranteed under the Constitution of the United States — in this case, the Fourth Amendment; and the potential weaking of other rights included in the Consitution and Declaration.

“If that’s what it takes to keep us safe“, others may say.

I don’t believe that performing secret wiretaps on US citizens’ without any potential oversight is the only possible way to keep the American people safe.

As I’ve been reading the news, I’ve “googled” the 4th Amendment, the “War Powers Act”, and “the Patriot Act” among others. Perhaps it triggered something in the government computers, and now I’m being monitored (if I wasn’t before) … and let’s say that such would identify me as a potential threat to national security … and what if they want to act on it — where would the power lie to oversee the existence of a threat and act on it appropriately?

We should be concerned about our privacy and the unchecked power of government.