Poll Finds Mixed Support for Domestic Wiretaps

aspenbordr writes "The NYTimes reports that Americans are growing more and more concerned about the tradeoff between 'fighting terrorism' and civil liberties. Forty-seven percent of those polled responded they they did not support 'wiretapping in order to reduce the threat of terrorism'." From the article: "Mr. Bush, at a White House press conference yesterday, twice used the phrase 'terrorist surveillance program' to describe an operation in which the administration has eavesdropped on telephone calls and other communications like e-mail that it says could involve operatives of Al Qaeda overseas talking to Americans. Critics say the administration could conduct such surveillance while still getting prior court approval, as spelled out in a 1978 law intended to guard against governmental abuses."

Ordinary Americans?

[PIPBoy3000]

they overwhelmingly opposed the same kind of surveillance if it was aimed at "ordinary Americans."

Whew. It's a good thing I'm an ordinary American, unlike the rest of you commie techno-freak Slashdotters.

Pollees are MIA

[digitaldc]

"The telephone poll was conducted with 1,229 adults, starting Friday and ending Wednesday. Its margin of sampling error was plus or minus three percentage points."

No word as to whether the people taking the poll were being eavesdropped on to find out their responses.
In fact, noone has heard from any of them since, and no further information is available.

Re:47%?

[mapmaker]

Don't forget, 50% of Americans are below average intelligence.

Re:Please stop...

[drew]

and you can do all this without fear of retaliation from the govt.

Unless your wife works for the CIA.

Re:47%?

[Savantissimo]

"Reviewed by" implies that they had some sort of say in the matter, which they didn't.

[Q...] But is it legal for the president to ignore the law?

A. Maybe not according to plain ol stupid ol regular law, but we're at war! You don't go to war with regular laws, which are made outta red tape and bureaucracy and Neville Chamberlain. You go to war with great big strapping War Laws made outta tanks and cold hard steel and the American Fightin Man and WAR, KABOOOOOOM!

Q. How does a War Bill become a War Law?

A. It all begins with the president, who submits a bill to the president. If a majority of both the president and the president approve the bill, then it passes on to the president, who may veto it or sign it into law. And even then the president can override himself with a two-thirds vote.

http://fafblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/q-our-omnipote nt-president-q.html [blogspot.com]

wiretapping = free phone service!

[Anonymous Coward]

"Here's one more tidbit on wire-taps: They get you free phone service! The feds tapped the phone of the Sisters of Mercy in Washington D.C. because of some anti-war stance or something they took in the 1980s. The good sisters noticed some kind of clicking on the phone at times, and finally decided that someone must have tapped into their phone. Their solution: Don't pay the bill so the phone company will have to shut off the phone. The phone never went dead, and they quit sending them bills! The Feds wouldn't let Ma Bell shut them down, and probably began paying the bills. The sisters talked long and free with their friends across the country!"

From an email quoted in The Falafel Connection: All Those NSA Wiretaps Are Just a Friendster in Disguise [pbs.org], by Robert X Cringely.