Listening in to Potential Terrorist Conversations is a Good Thing

I don’t even care if the bugging of foreign-domestic phone calls does turn out to be illegal. In a time of war, we must allow for such irregularities and hope that our government will take whatever measures are necessary to protect the nation from attack. Listening in to a few, or even a bunch of overseas phone calls is a small price to pay, and it is a negligible infringement on our freedom, if an infringement at all.

Think about it: Which ultimately deprives more Americans of their rights: having a limited number of overseas phone calls monitored, or being attacked with conventional, biological, chemical or nuclear weapons?

It’s not as if George Bush interred citizens of Arab or Muslim origin. It’s not as if whole cities were placed under martial law. It’s not as if thousands, or even hundreds, of Americans were indiscriminately deprived of their rights. We’re talking about listening to a relative few overseas phone calls, not at random, but ones that are carefully chosen.

Our enemy is a smarmy, dishonest and barbaric one. It doesn’t wear a uniform. It doesn’t even have a home. It is a bunch of fanatic religious zealots to whom murder of innocent people is inconsequential, except as a means to a narrow religious-political end.

Would I be more concerned about these “buggings” in peaceful times? If the acts were illegal, I absolutely would. But in a time of war, when our demise is the goal of unscrupulous murdering fanatics, I’m willing to give the President of the United State the benefit of the doubt.

I’d far rather take a chance that a few Americans, including possibly me, might have a phone call or two monitored than to take a chance that some Muslim pervert would successfully set up an attack on U.S. citizens.

Our privacy rights are not under attack to any significant degree, and those that are trying to convince us that our rights are threatened are doing so not because they have protecting our rights uppermost in their minds, but because they want to make political hay.

What could be more foolish than to tell our enemy what tactics we are using to thwart their murderous plans? However, that is precisely what happens when government secrets about this national security process are leaked to and published by the press. And that stupid mistake is magnified each and every time some Congressional Democrat publicly keeps this non-issue alive with an ill-considered, politically motivated comment.

Add this current flapdoodle to the lengthening list of behavior by the anti-Bush faction that helps our enemies more than it helps Americans.

A recent online poll finds that Americans overwhelmingly support the President’s actions. It is not a scientific poll, and does not pretend to be. However, it involves 150,000 respondents and is open to anyone who wants to participate.

Here are the questions and results:

1) Has President Bush been justified in tapping the conversation of U.S. citizens?
Justified - 80%
Not Justified - 20%
2) Do you believe the President must have a court-approved warrant to conduct a wiretap?
Yes - 23%
No - 72%
Not Sure - 5%
3) Do you believe President Bush's claim that he undertook this action to protect America?
Yes - 83%
No - 17%
4) How would you rate media coverage about President Bush's actions?
Fair - 20%
Unfair - 80%

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