Big mistake! Blocking the TIA program that is. Personally, I don't give a hoot if my data gets screened by their computer. The paranoia of the civil liberties crowd is harming our safety. As I've said for a long time, the most important civil right is living.

I've heard the line from Ben Franklin that the man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either, but I think it's being misapplied here. We have given our government the task of protecting us from terrorists and other enemies. We shouldn't deny it the ability to do so. I understand Franklin to be referring to security in the sense of financial security, not national security.

Part of the reason we feel insecure now is because we have failed to take measures to protect ourselves. These are dangerous powers that need to be watched carefully, but if we kill measures like this before they can even be tested, we deserve to be endangered. Benjamin Franklin also said, "Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you." We have become so fearful of Big Brother that we forget that he is fiction. For all the warnings that our government is becoming Big Brother, we sure have a lot of protesting and lawsuits against him.

Glenn Reynolds writes about being a "pack not a herd." But that didn't stop the WTC from being blown up. The pack metaphor is fine, but if the pack doesn't use all means at its disposal, it may get bombed out of existence.