Your Thoughts: Liberty vs. Security

May 12, 2006 — -- Here is a collection of comments from our message boards regarding news of the National Security Agencysurveillance program.

bmevaloto: Have we been attacked again since September 11? No, we haven't. Why do you think this is so? Do you not think that the government is doing something right in order for our country to not get attacked again? We do still have our freedom and it is not because the terrorists just don't feel like it. Our president is doing an amazing job at preserving our freedom. Be thankful that we still have the everyday rights and freedoms that our country was founded on, and quit complaining because you are still free.

Nelbrewster: Have we been attacked since … What stupid logic. We hadn't been attacked after 1993 either and anyone could have said the same thing in 1998. (I knew someone who died there.) Maybe the fact that there is a no fly list and no box cutters, and air marshalls on planes has something to do with it. NO? Really! All we needed we got from these measures. The spying on citizens stuff has nothingto do with our safety.

klwilczyk: What the government is doing is wrong! If they have evidence that I or my neighbor is talking to somewhat shady individuals, get a court order and THEN monitor our phone calls. Have you thought what could be next if the government is allowed to snoop into our private lives? The next thing would be breaking down our door in the middle of the night and taking us off to some camp for God knows what! This is what happens in countries where the government has too much power over its citizens and we have no rights. People, this is not what America the FREE is all about, and if you think this is right and are OK with it, I am scared of where our country is headed!

Worried_Patriot: Has it ever occurred to you that we have not been attacked because the terrorists won? We now live in a country in which our Constitution is irrelevant, human rights are irrelevant, and all of our ideals are irrelevant. Our government has simply to assert -- but never to prove -- that it is protecting us when it trashes our laws and our values. And you blindly believe those assertions. When we were attacked, Bush swore that "freedom" was under attack, and that he would protect our freedom against this attack. Well, if that was true, then the terrorists won, because freedom is dead in this country, and so is our Constitution.

gatelyk: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." -- Benjamin Franklin

yreka56: When you choose to live in a society where governments exist you will have law enforcement to uphold the law and laws and regulations to protect your liberty. If you want total unbridled liberty, move to a remote region of the world, a deserted island for example and do whatever it is you want to do and live however you want to live without having to answer to anyone . Be liberated. Soon you will realize that total liberty is not a panacea for happiness. I prefer to follow my own philosophical view about life: "THOSE WHO SACRIFICE SOME LIBERTIES FOR SECURITY WILL REMAIN BOTH FREE AND SECURE."