The morality of tapping domestic landlines...

[Homyrrh]

As a brief survey, what is the consensus view on wire-tapping? I gather nearly everyone strongly opposes the proposition that the NSA, etc., are eavesdropping on our conversations, but I'm sure there are sum who firmly hold that only those with something to hide should be fearful.

Please be concise.

[KcMsterpce]

Hm. I've been pretty well educated on the rules of communications collections for the U.S. government branches, what they can and can't do... But it's been training in pre-9/11 orders of conduct.

In the end, though, it doesn't bother me much. I don't have anything to hide. What do I care if some random person is hearing me talk about my personal issues to a friend over the phone? That's a non-subject which is unworthy of future investigation or retention. Maybe I'll make some dude or chick (or a handful of chicks, all listening in together; and they're all HOT) shed a tear or two. That's actually pretty cool!

If I'm talking about Counter-Strike and start mentioning planting bombs, headshotting people and the like... only idiots would know I wasn't talking about the real thing.

So in the end, the only people that should care GREATLY about getting eavesdropped (which let's face it, it's not a new concept at all. You can bet you've been listened to by a 3rd party well before any of these new rules) are those that really have something to hide which could cause damage to the U.S. government - or its' allies (we still have some? hahaha).

I don't like the fact that loosening rules and regulations in one area can only lead to so many other of our rights as Americans being bent or twisted for selfish and/or immoral reasoning, all done for the benefit of the fight against "fear" and "terror", the ever elusive and unseen enemies of Bush's regime.

That last paragraph goes into several other subjects/topics of discussion, so I'll stop right there.

Basically: I don't care who hears me over the phone if they are people I'll never meet.
I DO care that many of the rights and privileges we have been given as Americans is getting stripped from us, one small (or large) new policy at a time.
In the end, I don't have anything to hide, so I won't be bothered by Big Brother for my trivial life issues.
Yet.