Issue 20 from taking sides clashing views on political issues Essay - 1

Issue 20 from taking sides clashing views on political issues seventeenth edition - Essay Example How much privacy can we maintain without actually jeopardizing national security? My position stands on the answer to what is warrantless and what is not. Our history shows that innocent people have experienced an invasion of their privacy because of human error regarding whether or not their behavior, contacts, and connections can be considered â€Å"terrorist activity.† Nowadays, it seems like everyone and everything is potentially terroristic and a threat to national security. Extremist opinion and attitude, one way or the other, exist even amongst those who are nothing close to what can be deemed a terrorist. Legally, what is warranted is underlined by the words â€Å"probable cause.† Probable cause is a sticky matter that can come under the consent of a judge, and in cases of emergency, can be exercised in the absence of that permission. Wiretapping, as legalized eavesdropping, is badly in need of judicial oversight. Without the legally necessary protections in place, wiretapping is wide open to abuse and leaves open the possibility of misinformation and unnecessary interrogation. It also effectively closes the door to those doing investigative work, because those who may be caught disclosing information will withdraw, retract, and retreat from all contact when they know the door is open for them to be exposed and possibly killed, even when they are inside informants helping the innate cause. In the topic book, Al Gores states, â€Å"Republican as well as Democratic members of Congress should support the bipartisan call of the Liberty Coalition for the appointment of a special counsel to pursue the criminal issues raised by warrantless wiretapping of Americans by the President.† Since then, the battle has been over the Patriot Act and whether its broad-sweeping secret legal interpretation differs so much in the public