President Obama wants wiretap authority to monitor cell phones, Internet

Your illustration of bomb building reminds me of when (also during the Bush years) the government wanted access to library records so they could see who had been reading books about bomb making or other terrorist activity. If you remember, there was quite an uproar about the violation of privacy by government. And now many want to open the door and say that our electronic communications and associations can be investigated by the government. These issues, regarding our key liberties, are too important to be discussed or decided in the context of political debate. No matter what the political party in charge, we want to be careful how far we let the government go. Once the government worms their way into a part of your life, they are not likely to leave easily. djbtol

I don't necessarily disagree with you at all. I'm just saying this is a really shady area and to be frank I'm GLAD I'll never be the one to make decisions about it. I don't want "the government" or anyone else to know what I read online or what books I read nor do I want them listening in on my private telephone conversations. I'm not doing anything wrong or illegal and I'm certainly not planning any kind of terror attack but I simply value my privacy. It's such a fine line here. Like I said, depending on who happens to be in power if or when something terrible happens there WILL be those who will blame them for not "connecting the dots". Annie

One of the problems is that these site will have to maintain records of of what is written and said on their sights. In your case Annie your message would be flagged because of the B building words and the mention of a Terror Attack. In some ways it is like the Mylot restriction on certain words. If you mention the short form of Richard (the one that begins with a D) you will be flagged. I was responding to a posting on the Delaware Senate race and it would not let me put in Christine O'Donalds opponent's name. If they have to get a warrant and then only for specific people and not a fishing expedition where they look for anyone who mentions a bom* or some other word they decide is a threat. We have already had the Secretary of Homeland Security saying Veterans should be watched as possible terrorists. What happens if down the road a leader decides that those who criticize the government are terrorists and need to be watched just like J Edgar Hoover did during his career. I would have to agree with you Annie that they must have a warrant.

Many of those who voted for the President thought they were voting against such things.

Once they have the power to investigate, they will take the power to control. djbtol

That is what concerns me. He was opposed to the Patriot Act but now want more power. It is just like he wanted the terrorist to have all the right of Americans yet he is using unmanned drones to take out suspected terrorist in foreign countries. He was opposed to such things but when he is in power it is fine.

The government went should be able to search the records if they have probable cause(strict legal term) to suspect you of wrong doing and can get a judge to sign a warrant. What I am opposed to is when the government uses a law to go on a fishing expedition to try to find people who might be doing something wrong.

I may be wrong but the information they could get from Internet providers would be they could request information on all people who have done a search for How to make a bomb or who has visited certain web sights. Just visiting a web sight or searching for information is not illegal but now they may have a reason to look further into your activities. Remember during the Clinton Administration there was a concern that the administration got the IRS records of their political opponents and several of the people complained about being audited every year by the IRS. There was fight over returning the IRS files and it was a long time in being resolved. If you go back in History you will find similar examples of where a President took extreme action to protect the administration. President Lincoln had reporters, who were reporting events in an unfavorable light, arrested during the Civil War. He sent troops into state legislatures when they voted on secession. I have no problem with the government obtaining a warrant if they have a reasonable suspicion of criminal actions, but I do have a problem with them going on fishing expeditions trying to find things that people might be doing wrong. I am opposed to parts of the Patriot Act where they could go in a search library record to see who had checked out certain books. If they have a person they suspect and can get a warrant based on proof then that is different but to do a general search is wrong.