I have just about reached the end of my rope. If this gets shoved down our throats then I say it is time to gather up the tar and feathers and have a little meeting in DC.

If they shove this travesty down our throats then it will probably be time to go to Washington DC and tar and feather these idiots. If they will not enforce the laws already on the books then why pass more? And why does immigration reform have to be always tied to an already proven to fail policy of amnesty?

Neither side is a friend to America. If we must be involved (and I don't think that we should) then pick the winning side and sell arms to the losers. If they start winning then sell arms to the now losers and so on until both sides are decimated.

It's more like Nazism than mere Fascism. And just exactly where did Beckel think those liberal ideals were headed? Now that there here, does he want us evil conservatives to bail him out?

MacQ, you are correct and I agree with your point. I was refering to what I understood the original program under the Patriot act was. I understood it to have much more oversight and restrictions than what we are seeing now. It has now become over bearing, intrusive, and needs to be reigned in at least or totally abolished.

Actually, many of those "Greatest Generation" folks that accepted the government handouts were taught much of that prior to 1939. Growing up in the Great Depression, they followed Roosevelt and his fascist philosophy looking for a way to prosperity. They were taught wrongly and so allowed the country to follow the wrong path.

It would explain a lot.

I can see where "mining" for certain key words or phrases in the sea of electronic communications could be acceptable however, it would still require trust in the administrators of that program. I do not trust this government, therefore I dislike even the limited surveillance program that I outlined. I figure that with telecommunications technology my conversations are as private as if they were held in a public place. Too many possible ways to be listened in on. Also, any program this wide sweeping needs a public review and must come up for renewal periodically as a minimum. This administration is too nosy and dangerous to liberty.

Nixon wire tapped an office .HIS.... Obama wire taps a nation--Ours. That's my take on it.

People forget the high cost of freedom. D-Day, June 6th, 1944 America had between 3,500 and 4,000 KIA on Omaha Beach alone. By the end of July, 1944, we had lost 10,000 KIA. To see the sorry state that our liberties have fallen to today, I am greatly saddened. Note: The figures are from something I read years ago and based on my not always accurate memory.

This is a U.S. Senator asking this question? It makes me want to just sit down, hold my head and cry. And I ain't much of a cryer.