bob graham

Bush acknowledges secret order for
domestic spying

President George W. Bush on Saturday acknowledged he signed a secret
order after the September 11, 2001, attacks to allow the surveillance of
people in the United States.

In a rare live radio address, Bush defended the practice as a "vital
tool" in defending the United States against another such attack.

That story is fresh from
Reuters.
I have heard some people trying to defend this action by saying he is protecting
us from other attacks. I have a different take on it.

After 9/11 Bush told us that they attacked us because they "hate our
freedoms". Those freedoms are guaranteed in the Constitution and more
importantly in the Bill of Rights. What Bush has done is crippled those freedoms
and did so illegally. You can basically say that Osama won against us because of
it.

The problem I have is this. It is not that hard to get a warrant. One phone
call and they can have it. Why does our President feel he has to remove this
step of the process. This single step is what changes the action from being
legal to being illegal and unconstitutional. If they have enough reason to
believe someone is planning an attack then call a judge and get the warrant.

Republican Senator John Sununu said it best yesterday by quoting Benjamin
Franklin - "Those that would give up essential liberty in pursuit of a little
temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security." We can not give up our
rights and liberties in this war. If we do then we have nothing left to fight
for.