This is why we are trapped conservatives.
USA Today writes up a story about a database of phone calls and the left runs with it with untrue accusations. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. Yet, I just heard Democrat Congressman Harold Ford Jr. on "The Big Story" with John Gibson saying about three times that the government was "listening in" on Americans in this program. When John pressed him on that asking if he knew for a fact that was true, Ford admitted that he was assuming.
This is exactly what I am talking about! The Democrats just lie and most journalists don't call them on it, so most Americans go to bed thinking that the government was listening in on their conversations instead of simply collecting calling patterns.
But this isn't just frustrating for conservatives. Understanding all this is VITAL for our security. RCP blog asks how civil liberties are affected here to those "hyperventilating over the latest revelation that our security agencies are actually trying to do their job."
He goes on:
"Many of the people decrying these violations of civil liberties are the same ones who ripped the government for its inability to "connect-the-dots" prior to 9/11.
But the paranoia on the left, and in particular, the hatred for the Bush administration has become so intense there is an automatic assumption that the NSA has to be engaging in nefarious activity, spying on you and your neighbor. The idea that the agency is thinking creatively and proactively about how they can legally monitor the bad guys instead of just going about business as usual is, apparently, out of the question for some. The sad truth is it is probably going to take another devastating attack to convince many in this country that we are actually at war against Islamic jihadists.
That is something true civil libertarians should think long and hard about. The more vigilant we are today in preventing attacks, the more it will pay off in spades in terms of protecting our civil liberties in the future. Because if this country gets hit with a small nuke and 30,000 or 100, 000 Americans die, all of the debating will be over. The ensuing crackdown will be massive, and the loss of REAL civil liberties will become very, very possible."
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