hs:

“The most fundamental right of all, is the right to be free to act as I please, and that Government (and you) have no right to know what I do within the privacy of my life…unless I choose to share it with you.”

May I paraphrase? You can assist terrorists in attacks on the United States and the government can’t interfere unless you choose to share the plan with them? Fercrysakes hs, they ain’t trying to get your wife’s recipe for the potato salad she brought to the company picnic.

Not quite: if the Government thinks I am assisting terrorists, then it is THEIR responsibility to show me what they know, what they think they know, and how they found out those things. If they are unwilling to tell me, a citizen, those things, then I have the absolute right to keep my mouth shut until they DO tell me.

hs:

“Not quite: if the Government thinks I am assisting terrorists, then it is THEIR responsibility to show me what they know, what they think they know, and how they found out those things.”

It certainly is! You have the right to confront your accusers and they might not shirk from that responsibility if you went to trial on criminal charges but an investigation that may save lives can not be limited by the restraints of a trial. The legal penalty for intruding on your “privacy” is the information gained may not be used in a court of law if acquired outside the law. If you and your theoretical henchmen are stopped from killing Americans, I’d be willing to forfeit any pound of flesh gained by your conviction.

Sage, I had a great response, and wordpress ate it I’m going to try again:

Don’t you see that this whole pattern of wanting to set up warrantless searches and NSL letters is a violation of basic constitutional protection from overbearing government intrusion? Don’t you see that the very idea that the President can name a CITIZEN a ‘person of interest’, and have that CITIZEN snatched off the street with no recourse in the courts is a fundamental violation?

Sorry, I understand that there are secrets, and they are important. However, if the Government wants to invade my home and search my possessions (including my computer), then they damn well better have a specific warrant, not an NSL.

hs:

“Don’t you see that this whole pattern of wanting to set up warrantless searches and NSL letters is a violation of basic constitutional protection from overbearing government intrusion?”

I thought I made it clear that I do see that but it is the lesser of two evils when a September 11 attack could be the result. Think back to 2001/2002 when everybody and I mean everybody thought our government didn’t do enough to prevent the attack. As soon as they did do something, Democrats saw a political advantage in attacking a Constitutional straw man. Advocates of a living, breathing Constitution suddenly became strict constructionists, otherwise brave men hid behind the skirts of Iustitia, the Roman Goddess of Justice as if criminal court proceedings were the holy grail.

We do not differ too much but you have not persuaded me to disregard my family’s safety for the purity of the Constitutional word.

Warrantless searches, no-knock entries, and special “letters” from the Supreme One are one short step from Einsatzgruppen activities and the death squads of El Salvador which, of course, the CIA and Special Forces teams set up in the early 60s. The actions groups like the ACLU take are the result of the population getting tired of being afraid-very afraid.

Sage….So Justice Douglas pulled some rabbit out of his hat in Griswold on some silly “conjured” right to privacy…Then you state: “The most fundamental right of all is the right to be free to act as we please, and that governemnt has no right to know what I do in the privacy of my life.”
Unless of course you’re a woman who wants to determine what she can and cannot do with her life or her body…That kind of privacy doesn’t count even though the constitution, which is your apparent field of expertise, only grants right to those born in the United States…You have a few rabbits in your own hat, don’t you?

PS…Your “conjured” second amendment right to own as many guns as you want is up to legal interpretation too….

Garrison:

“Sage….So Justice Douglas pulled some rabbit out of his hat in Griswold on some silly “conjured” right to privacy…Then you state: “The most fundamental right of all is the right to be free to act as we please, and that governemnt has no right to know what I do in the privacy of my life.”

I thought everybody understood what quotation marks meant. Your panties are in a wad over your attribution of hs’s quote to me.

If you’re truly concerned about a woman’s right to control her own body, why do you and the bloodthirsty NARAL butchers resoundingly cheer a post partum abortion when only the last hair on a departing scalp remains in the birth canal?

slamfist:

Warrantless searches, no-knock entries, and special “letters” from the Supreme One are one short step from Einsatzgruppen activities and the death squads of El Salvador which, of course, the CIA and Special Forces teams set up in the early 60s. The actions groups like the ACLU take are the result of the population getting tired of being afraid-very afraid.

Let’s face it slam, I don’t fear the Einsatzgruppen bogeyman any more than you fear a terrorist attack. I hope you’re right.

Sage…my mistake. I should know by now you start every entry by trying to spin someone’s quotes.

So, just were do you draw the line on privacy. Or is there even such a thing as privacy other than gun ownership?