A few weeks ago, the document that gave phone companies immunity for reporting possible ‘terrorist’ activities via use of phones expired. The document, which was created during the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, did not punish phone companies, such as AT&T, for giving what would be considered private information to the government if the information in question may be considered to be of a terroristic nature. Thankfully, the law was not renewed and at least one of our freedoms was restored. When any of our rights as Americans are taken away, for whatever purpose, it is wrong. Even if the reason for the right being taken away is for ‘our own safety’ or ‘national security,’ it is wrong. What I heard over and over for the past five years is that the troops in Iraq are fighting for our freedom. If this is true, then the Bush administration is trying their best to undermine the cause and effort of the troops’ fighting. What’s the good of a ‘safe’ country, if you cannot talk on the phone without being recorded or suspected of being a terrorist or whatever ‘evil’ the decade you’re living in prescribes? And I’ve heard people saying that they have nothing to worry about, because they have nothing to hide, so the government can record or do whatever they like. First, it’s the phone; then it’s your whole house; and finally, you have no privileges whatsoever and the government is controlling all aspects of your life. It’s just not right. Benjamin Franklin once said that the person that’s willing to give up some freedoms for safety or other signs of the times, is not deserving of freedom. Hopefully, the bill will remain inactive and will not be renewed. George W. Bush has said that the U.S. is losing countless information that could make this country safer. What about all those years before the 9/11 attacks? Didn?t we lose information then? It?s either you lose information or you lose freedom. I support the American troops one hundred and ten percent. Without them, their courage, and regard for their country, we wouldn’t have what we have today. I would like to honor those troops and keep our freedoms for which they fought for so valiantly. After the Pearl Harbor attacks in the early 1940s, similar laws were passed to ‘protect’ America. It wasn’t right then, and isn’t right now. -Cheers