A lot has changed in the last few years under the disguise of protecting our freedom and safety.  The government has gained a lot of power, and the opportunity to abuse it, in a very short time.  I used to feel very, very suspicious of our present government and feared what they might be up to behind the scenes.  My position has changed somewhat as I watch Iraq hold a people's vote and I speak with military enlists who have returned following, or preparing for, deployment to Iraq.  I feel that we have grown up a little since the 90's and I feel we have made a necesary, positive change in the world as a result.  It was unpopular, it was costly both in lives and money, but something like it, and potentially much worse, was surely inevitable.

However, we should not forget to watch and police those who watch and police us.  This is the nature of checks and balances and the crux of our political system and our governement.  Recently, the definition of "probable cause" and what is considered appropriate search and seizure has been loosened.  This is something that should concern us all, even if we have nothing to hide.  Why?  Powerful people employ powerful measures to accomplish powerful ends.  That is what happened in Iraq.  WMD's?  Well, the job is done (or at least the getting going of getting done).  I remain confident that the mission is honorable and the motivations, though probably not entirely pure, we're grounded in common human values and our collective future security and prosperity.  Consider that the the United Nations is a commitee designed to look after our international interests.  When it was not likely to serve the outcome desired by the elite few running our very powerful country, they found ways to circumvent that process and experience very little repercussion because of that.  Bring that scenario down in scale, within our country, and what kinds of means will powerful people use to get what sort of ends?  What about individual abuses of power and opportunity?  Should every citizen be accessible to every law enforcement superpatriot who chose his path to cover up feelings of inequity and shame?  This is likely the exception, not the norm, but more common then a word like "the".  A policeman calls a dog to a routine traffic citation and the dog smells contraband.  The dog wasn't on patrol, he was called to duty with out cause.  the policeman then changes his approach from traffic citation to arrest. 

I know from building software that if you look for a bug in a system, you'll find a bug.  If you have unchecked capabilities to catch a person committing an illegal act, chances are, eventually, you'll find one.  It is when a person can be reasonably suspected of posing a threat to those around them that they need to be observed with greater scrutiny.  When a person is going about their normal, daily lives, they should not be treated like a criminal nor should they be scrutinized like one.  That leads to improper policing and targeting and abuse of power.

I don't know what one should do about it but it is definitely worth considering.  It is worth reading about, becoming informed.  If you have to argue this point with some crack pot, you need to know the facts.

Here is the article to consider