I’m thinking they are going too far in their wanting to listen to or read anyone’s phone calls or emails.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44003-2001Dec1.html
Beware people.
Yeah, beware people…of the Washington Post’s ability to report unfairly.
AG Ashcroft is good stuff. Several orders of magnitude above Reno, esp. in the post 9/11 world we live in today.
Mahaloth Could you point out the “unfair” portion of the story? I probably just missed it.
I take it you approve of the government being able to watch and read everything you do.
Well I don’t.
This is out of line, but typical Ashcroft. We all voted for it, so we should be happy with the consequences. Oh, wait, we didn’t vote for it, did we?
Yeah, 'cause you know, people crashing planes into buildings automatically abrogates the US Constitution…
jayjay :rolleyes:
I don’t care if the government hears me tell my mother I’m coming home for Christmas, congratulating my brother on his new job, or any general gossiping with my friends. I say if you want to tap my phone, have at it if it helps in any way.
Where there could be a problem is when people are conducting business via phone or telecommuting and there are things the public (which would include government phone tappers) shouldn’t know, whether there’s an impending merger, or a company going public. I’m sure upon hearing something like that, it may affect someone’s portfolio very positively. I would hope that anyone doing the investigating would be extremely ethical in their job.
Thank you for delineating one of the major reasons to not let the government set aside these kind of protections.
There is no guarantee that the holder of the position which listens to these conversations is going to have high ideals. There is never a guarantee that a holder of any government position is going to have high ideals or ethical integrity.
This is why the concept of enlightened despotism is such a pleasant and effective theory but would never fly for more than a generation or two in reality. While the man you put on the throne may be a moral paragon, the people who follow are almost guaranteed to dwindle in ethical quality. And eventually you go from an Augustus to a Heliogabalus. Not pleasant.
jayjay
Three points Reeder: first, the FBI currently has this power, so this is not a unique request; second, this recommendation came in response to the request of the oversight House and Senate committees themselves; third, it applies to overseas communications of non U.S. citizens/residents.
Therefore, your statement about Ashcroft wanting to monitor anyone’s communication is incorrect. Don’t let that paranoia get the best of you.
This is more of a MPSIMS kind of post, don’tcha think?
I just looove moving day!