President Bush wants to
eavesdrop on communications between terrorists. He recently said, "I
think most Americans understand the need to find out what the enemy's thinking."
(Breitbart, January 1, 2006). His intent is good, for our government does
need to know what the enemy is thinking. However, the practice of requiring
court warrants to authorize eavesdropping on specific people has long been part
of our safeguards to prevent government from becoming totalitarian
dictatorships. Warrants are part of the checks and balances between the three
branches of government.
Without
the safeguards of court warrants, bureaucrats can eavesdrop on whom ever they
wish, for what ever purposes they wish, and for as long as they wish. In fact,
the current program of eavesdropping has monitored conversations in which both
participants were in the United States, even though the White House order
authorizing such eavesdropping specified that one of the participants had to be
on foreign soil (The New York Times, December 21, 2005). The government
is full of "good intents", and the government is full of "good intents" that
became abused. Such is the evolution towards totalitarianism.
President Bush wants to
eavesdrop on communications between terrorists. He recently said, "I
think most Americans understand the need to find out what the enemy's thinking."
(Breitbart, January 1, 2006). His intent is good, for our government does
need to know what the enemy is thinking. However, the practice of requiring
court warrants to authorize eavesdropping on specific people has long been part
of our safeguards to prevent government from becoming totalitarian
dictatorships. Warrants are part of the checks and balances between the three
branches of government.