Protecting our rights doesn't mean supporting terrorism

The more I read about how we are being protected by our government, the more I feel we need to be protected from our government.

The new bill, the Cheney-Specter bill (S 2453), is marketed as a possible law that would protect our rights. That spin is far from the truth. There would be an information blackout by the Executive Branch against the Congress or our courts when it comes to the names and number of Americans monitored by the spying program. Without any oversight, countless journalists, lawyers, hotel clerks and others will inevitably vulnerable to having their phone conversations monitored.

Unlike what we are told, this legalization allows the president to create warrantless surveillance on Americans, a program that is illegal under current law and unconstitutional will continue under this proposed law.

I am tired of seeing the defending of our rights as supporting terrorism. These two needs are not mutually exclusive. We need to return to modeling for other nations what protecting individual rights should be. Our current model of fear based repression only feeds terrorism.

OWEN MARCUS

Sandpoint