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Government tramples on civil liberties Hattiesburg American | May 14 2006 George Orwell missed it by 22 years. His book "1984" foretold of a totalitarian state where there was no individual privacy. But news reports out last week that the National Security Agency has secretly collected the telephone records of millions of Americans - very likely many of you who are reading this editorial - indicates that Big Brother is already eroding our privacy. Complicit in this black cloak operation were three telecommunications giants: AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon, all of whom turned over phone records without a court order.Only Qwest Communications refused to do so and should be applauded for not getting its hands soiled. The Bush administration says the program is a weapon in the U.S. arsenal in the war on terrorism. But critics say it goes too far because it invades the privacy of millions of innocent Americans. The domestic spying program was unveiled in Thursday's edition of USA Today and sparked a firestorm of controversy in Washington and around the nation. U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., tried to deflect attention away from the gathering of records and focus the attention on the newspaper's report. He said the U.S. needs "to use modern technological tools" to defeat terrorism and said the newspaper report undermines "a legitimate and legal" program, according to USA Today. It may be legal, but that doesn't make it right. The White House has said Americans' calls were not monitored or recorded but that the records are being used to search for patterns of calling activity that might lead to terrorist cells. We are as concerned about terrorism as anyone, but wonder where the domestic spying will stop. In an era in which we have already seen the chipping away of our rights, there must be a point where we say enough. While the administration says the calls are not monitored or taped, how can we know that's true? Or how can we know that it won't happen in the future? If there is not widespread outrage over these tactics then the administration will equate our silence with public approval. And the NSA and other spy agencies will continue to undermine our civil liberties bit by bit until we awaken one day and find that Orwell's work wasn't science fiction after all. Here's how to contact your senators and congressmen: Sen. Thad Cochran Phone: (202) 224-5054 E-mail: http://cochran.senate.gov/ Sen. Trent Lott Phone: (202) 224-6253 E-mail: http://lott.senate.gov/ Rep. Chip Pickering Phone: (202) 225-5031 E-mail: www.house.gov/pickering/ Rep. Gene Taylor Phone: (202) 225-5772 www.house.gov/genetaylor/ ---------------------------------------------------
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