Yes, Little Grasshopper, There is a Boogey Man...

A recent conversation at work the other day concluded with something like this: "So, the government is wiretapping phone calls without a warrant, what do I care? Only guilty people are scared, anyway."

I can't believe that people actually don't care! Being the type-A, overanalyzer I am, I sat down and thought about why I DO care. There are several serious issues the recently exposed warrant-less wiretapping phenom presents:

1) Even if the Feds have admitted to only wiretapping foreign calls without a warrant (and here, I think it's a safe assumption that most of us are not regularly making international calls), have they wiretapped domestic calls without a warrant and just haven't admitted it?

2) There are procedural safeguards in place that take very little time, e.g., procuring a warrant for wiretapping, thereby halting or deterring abuses. One of these is the Constitution to the United States (presumedly a patriotic document) that guarantees
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,shall NOT be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." U.S. Constitution, Amendment IV

This Amendment was placed in the Constitution in the first place because of the American experience under British rule.

For those playing at home, it is above all a very American trait to be skeptical of government power. Oh, but the government is just trying to "PROTECT" us you say, Orwellian style. Indeed, and a government bears the responsibility under its social contract to protect its citizens but not only from outside harm. The founders of our country knew something America forgets in times of crises, that those who hold power in the government are human and will abuse authority. Hence, the marvelous, completely novel idea of "Checks and Balances."

The Check here, is the executive branch taking requests to violate the people's right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures to the Court--specifically, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, located on the sixth floor of the Justice Department ABC - Going around the FISA Court, Jan. 24, 2006 (FISA is a federal law requiring NSA wiretapping to go through its court to procure a warrant; the 4th Amendment is a constitutional law requiring warrants for searches and seizures by the government; constitutional law ALWAYS trumps federal law.)

Most NSA/CSS employees, both civilian and military, are headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, centrally located between Baltimore and Washington, DC. NSA - About the NSA, accessed Jan. 25, 2006

So, how long does it take to get a valid warrant from FISA, aside from the little car trip? Per the above cited ABC newstory, it takes from a few hours to as much as *gasp* weeks. Wait a minute, so with a little planning (since NSA knows what and where it wants to listen) the federal government can accomplish its task while protecting my civil rights???

The real problem is that we don't even know if the Feds are violating FISA or the 4th Amendment; because of the current bypass of the court, there is absolutely NO oversight--NO CHECK to balance the power. possible impeachment?

Here, I propose a smells bad test, i.e., if randomly eavesdropping on citizens' phone conversations without even the semblance of a warrant smells bad, then don't friggin' do it!

3) I expect my phone calls to be private. PERIOD. I'm married, my husband and I are apart sometimes and frankly, it's no one's business what we talk about (even if it is only sweet nothings). I also talk to my sister, who lives out-of-state (just 1 step removed from international) and when I gripe about friends/family/life, I don't want anyone hearing about it. IF I ever run for political office, I don't want a taped call to be used in a smear ad.

4) Although I don't have family or friends overseas, I do call customer service. Yup, that sweet little, hard-to-understand, barely English-speaking customer service rep. is NOT in the good ole US-of-A. Is NSA listening to me try to figure out why the printer isn't working? Probably not. What if I'm Muslim and my printer isn't working? Still, maybe a no. What if I'm a large business owner, Muslim and my printer isn't working? Not so sure. What if I'm in the field of surveillance, nuclear physics or military contracts, I'm a large business owner, Muslim and my printer isn't working? Yea, right. I wouldn't even order pizza from across town without giving a "God bless America" instead of a "goodbye."

riddle me this