OUR TURN: SHOULD WE ALLOW WIRETAPPING WITHOUT COURT APPROVAL?

BUSH GOES TOO FAR IN SPYING ON AMERICANS
FROM: THE GREENVILLE (SC) NEWS [LINK]
PUBLISHED FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2006

I don't know why we're surprised this is happening. As far back as their 1981 position paper, policy experts Hall and Oates warned us, "Private Eyes. They're watching you. They see your every move."

What else needs to be said?

I supported President Bush and many initiatives even when they were unpopular, but I can't play ball on this one. The implications are too broad.

Wiretapping is no longer limited to monitoring Barney Fife's phone conversations when he asks Sarah the operator to connect him to Thelma Lou. Now we're constantly connected by cell phones, desktop computers, notebook computers, palmtop computers and messenger pigeons to convey information from point A to point B.

Thanks to technological advancements, we created a world that lets the government, pedophiles and Amway salesmen into our homes without so much as a peck on the cheek. I don't know about you, but I don't want the FBI logging on my computer and publicly exposing the Barry Manilow collection in my iTunes catalog.

We opened the door, and the NSA, RIAA and WWE all came strolling through. President Bush is wrong to abuse his ability to spy on American citizens within our country's borders, but we are equally at fault for not speaking up until now.

As Benjamin Franklin once told a group of shareholders at a Krispy Kreme convention, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Roughly translated, that means, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

Taft Matney, 33, lives in Greenville and is the president of a local public relations and governmental affairs firm. He can be reached by e-mail at taft@taftmatney.com or by phone at (864) 505-8866.