Should the Government Be Listening?

Should the Government be Listening?

During the past few months, all over the news media the issue regarding the president’s use, or in some Americans’ minds overuse, of the Patriot Act have become the hot topic of discussion. The president has spoken of using wire taps in the homes of American citizens in hopes of gaining information regarding terrorist activities. The problem many Americans have with this is that they believe the president’s actions are unconstitutional citing that the president is in violation of the fourth amendment. However, in times of crisis, like the current state of affairs where us Americans are being threatened by terrorists, is it not necessary for us to sacrifice a tiny portion of our freedom for protection? The answer is yes, it is completely necessary, and upon comparing the fourth amendment to the president’s actions it is plain to see that given America’s current situation, wire tapping is not only constitutional, it is a reasonable, progressive decision in moving forward through the struggle with terrorism.

The fourth amendment to the constitution reads: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…” What this amendment is saying is that Americans have the right to be free in their homes and personal belongings unless, of course, there is a reasonable need to breech those rights. The problem with this is that people seem to be interpreting it in a different way. These people read their rights in the sense that the constitution was made for each individual American citizen instead of America as a whole. They believe that the president’s wire tapping is in total violation of all of their fourth amendment rights, which is a selfish thought to begin with considering the president is doing this for the safety of the nation as a whole. However some Americans still seem to be ignorant and do not understand that wire tapping is not a clever scheme to listen to what America says about the president. It is all in the name of safety and it should not be anything new to us Americans.

Ever since the first colonies were founded in America hundreds of years ago, laws have been made. With each new addition of a law, Americans loose a little bit more freedom, but it comes back around the other way. These sacrifices are given in exchange for protection, by the government, of citizens’ rights. Wire tapping is exactly the same concept. Sure we allow members of the government’s defense division to record our phone conversations, but if anything were to be found, the government could prevent a terrorist attack from occurring. We give a little, but we get protection back. It is the way America has been run for years and the issue of whether it is constitutional or not should not come into play.

The fourth amendment clearly states that it protects the people, meaning as a whole entity, not special individuals who feel they should be excluded from such actions as wire tapping. Reading along through the fourth amendment, “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…” I come to another important point. The word unreasonable. The definition of unreasonable, which I found in Webster’s Dictionary, is stated as something being “clearly inappropriate, excessive, or harmful in degree or kind.” It