Americans Speak Out About NSA Wiretaps

[Sanslines]

Here is a sampling of letters from MSN Money from different Americans concerning the recent NSA phone wiretaps. These opinions do not necessarily represent my own and are posted here to only show what other Americans think about the wiretaps. Agree or disagree.....this is what others are saying:

1) Frankly, I don’t care if the NSA captures my call detail records or not. I would imagine that the people making the most noise have something to hide. Moreover, if the NSA was to listen to my telephone conversations, their eyes would glaze over and they’d doze off. My phone calls are that exciting. Although every now and then I say something risqué to my wife and she’ll admonish me to behave myself.

2) I have totally no problem with the government tracking or listening to my phone calls. The U.S. is in the middle of a war. And like it or not, we will be in this war for a long time to come. I feel that the government must do what ever needs to be done to keep American citizens safe and keep the despicable terrorists from being able to coordinate a horror by killing thousands of people on American soil. And I resent the media making privacy something so precious since these days anyone can get any kind of information on an individual that they want without permission or a warrant.

3) It is amazing to me how quickly we are losing just our basic rights. It would appear that our democracy only exists in the election of our representatives, but our freedoms; civil liberties and our rights are being eroded away. This is all in the name of protecting our borders and our citizens from terrorists and other threats. Law enforcement in our own country can't guarantee protection from the threats we already face. What makes our government think it can protect us from outside threats?

4) (This) misses the point. The computers cross reference the phone numbers called to and from suspected terrorists in this country and outside this country. When frequencies or patterns of calls become interesting, then the listening begins. Calls made related to suspected terrorist activity get the attention. So Americans are not being listened to by big brother. But when put in proper perspective, the issue looses legs and the New York Times has nothing to carp about.

[Sanslines]

Here is a sampling of letters from MSN Money from different Americans concerning the recent NSA phone wiretaps. These opinions do not necessarily represent my own and are posted here to only show what other Americans think about the wiretaps. Agree or disagree.....this is what others are saying:

1) Frankly, I don’t care if the NSA captures my call detail records or not. I would imagine that the people making the most noise have something to hide. Moreover, if the NSA was to listen to my telephone conversations, their eyes would glaze over and they’d doze off. My phone calls are that exciting. Although every now and then I say something risqué to my wife and she’ll admonish me to behave myself.

2) I have totally no problem with the government tracking or listening to my phone calls. The U.S. is in the middle of a war. And like it or not, we will be in this war for a long time to come. I feel that the government must do what ever needs to be done to keep American citizens safe and keep the despicable terrorists from being able to coordinate a horror by killing thousands of people on American soil. And I resent the media making privacy something so precious since these days anyone can get any kind of information on an individual that they want without permission or a warrant.

3) It is amazing to me how quickly we are losing just our basic rights. It would appear that our democracy only exists in the election of our representatives, but our freedoms; civil liberties and our rights are being eroded away. This is all in the name of protecting our borders and our citizens from terrorists and other threats. Law enforcement in our own country can't guarantee protection from the threats we already face. What makes our government think it can protect us from outside threats?

4) (This) misses the point. The computers cross reference the phone numbers called to and from suspected terrorists in this country and outside this country. When frequencies or patterns of calls become interesting, then the listening begins. Calls made related to suspected terrorist activity get the attention. So Americans are not being listened to by big brother. But when put in proper perspective, the issue looses legs and the New York Times has nothing to carp about.

[Rabid_Clam]

One has to find the intent of the action. There is no intent to reduce our rights or priviliges nor take any of our freedoms away in part or whole.

This is not the world we grew up in, so many things have shrunk what used to be vast distances that we have also people that take advantage of it for ill intent.

It is that ill intent the government seeks and what they are doing is only a method of protecting our citizens and those of other countries as well.

I support what the US Government is doing to remove terrorism from our environment.

[nudeM]

I may be wrong, but The Government isn't listening to the conversations. They are keeping track of the phone numbers being used overseas. This has been done for years, but now that 'everyone' knows of it, the wiretaps are all of a sudden wrong.

I agree the Government is doing everything possible to protect our freedom and not let the terrorists proceed with their agendas. We must protect ourselves at all costs.

[Naturist Mark]

quote:

I agree the Government is doing everything possible to protect our freedom

I'd like to call Bull***t on that statement.

This government has repeatedly overstepped the bounds of the law and shattered the Constitution in its relentless drive to eliminate our freedoms.

The NSA wiretaps are illegal. The Administration knows that, which is why George Bush lied to us about them for so long. Why the Adminstration failed to fully brief every member of the intelligence committee as required by law. Why the administration gagged the handful of members who were *partially* informed with secrecy requriements and an inability to perform their Constitutionally mandated oversight function. Why the Administration has shut down TWO investigations (by the Justice Dept and by the FTC) by removing or denying security clearance to every single investigator.

Why oh Why would the administration not allow any oversight, no judges, no congressional committees, no independent auditors, to oversee the programs to insure that they are not being misused?

How dumb do they think we are?

-Mark

[jon71]

This admin. is notorious for attacking American freedom while ignoring any real threat, that's not their priority. For example they delve into our phones "to catch terrorists" but refuse to look at who's purchasing guns. After all how could somebody buying lots of weapons possibly be a sign of criminality or terrorist activity.

[NakedTao]

I agree 100% that government wiretaps are not only bad, but another glaring example of this "Presidency" and their lackies in Congress not really caring about the average American citizen. Can you say - economy?

Anyway, I'm scared to death of the guy who they're ready to install as the new head of the CIA. This is a man who was caught on tape misquoting the Fourth Amendment: he said that the Fourth Amendment does not say anything about probable cause, which it does.

Sorry. I had to get on a bit of a soapbox here.

[DoctorSurferDude]

NSA....National Sunbathing Association??

I thought they were absorbed into what we now know as AANR, who knew they went into the undergroupd and became phone spies....how weird.....

[usmc1]

Stalin spied on his people in the name of national security and external threats and we abhorred it.

Bush spys on American citizens and some exault it.

Stalin maintained "internment" camps for enemies of the state and we condemned it.

Bush maintains "internment" camps for enemies of the state and some praise it.

Stalin's minions murdered and tortured in the name of the state and we held him up to the world as an arch-fiend.

Bush's minions do the same and some of us offer explanations and justifications.

Those of us who believe that we can successfully wage war against a noun and who live in fear of vague amorphous "enemies" and who would rather be herded into forts and guarded and shielded from the rigors of reality will continue to prattle about how they do not care if they are "watched" or "listened to".

They are the herd animals of humankind.

They will praise their pasture while ignoring the fact that every so often a few disappear from their midst. And when thir time comes to be loaded on a truck they will be thankful for their opportunity to take a trip. And once at the slaughter house they will ignore all t he evidence that something is seriously wrong give it up without a struggle.

Or, let me put it another way, without the analogies and parallels, in a language understandable to those of you who support Bush and his policies and see nothing wrong with a government spying on and gathering information on its citizens without congressional oversight or judicial process.

Mooooo. Moo. Moo. MooooMoooMooMoo. Moo. Moo.

[nacktman]

Darn, and I thought it was:

Baaaaa. Baa. Baa. BaaaaBaaaBaaBaa. Baa. Baa.

Must be the wind from all the shrubette Gasbags muffling the sound.

[Bob S.]

While the government is involved with the phones, I say they do more about those @#!*# telemarketers. Damn phone rings off the hook some days. I say instead of a Do Not Call list, they make a Do Call List. Anyone who wants to be called by those morons can provide their phone numbers to the list. Everyone else would be free from them.

Back on subject. Just like with the fairly recent search engine list provided voluntarily by the different search engines, it seems that the phone companies provided this info in the same manner. The govt asks and they say yes.

Bob S.

[hm0504]

quote:

Originally posted by Naturist Mark:

How dumb do they (the Government) think we are?

-Mark

Pretty dumb...and they may be right on this one. I hope they will be proved otherwise.

[hm0504]

I should add that Canadians have been doing an excellent job at the "dumb" game over the past few months. Our new Conservative government has worked rapidly to line up our policies with that of the Bush administration and Canadians seem to be swallowing it hook, line, and sinker!

For example, our new Government, like the Bush one, decided to no longer let the media cover the return to the country's soil of its fallen soldiers. The father of the last soldier to die attacked the government for this policy, saying during the eulogy for his daughter that "I find it troubling the privacy decision means keeping the press outside the wire where the bad guys are. I would like to think Nic died to protect our freedoms, not restrict them."

Our Prime Minister responded saying he had given "fairly clear instructions" that families be consulted about whether media should be present. That would be news to most who had watched the pronouncement and was apparently news to the Defence Minister who hadn't understood the policy that way either.

Shortly thereafter, Canada, following the U.S. lead, has said the Geneva Convention does not apply to the captured enemy in Afghanistan, later on saying he did not consider the Afghanistan mission to be "a war". Quite brilliant I think; perhaps we will actually see the Bush administration say that the Iraq war is not a war either and therefore the usual rules of war do not apply there as well.


[1] http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/natio...d-funeral.html

[NakedGary]

NSA's Home Page on the Web in HTML and Flash

NSA Home Page Link

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[usmc1]

If one should find themself in the vicinity of Fort Meyers there is an interesting side trip to NSA's museum. The listeners have set up interesting displays of their history including their code breaking expertise.

There is even a captured WWII German enigma machine that one can play with.