By Dave wargo

tneditor@tnonline.comI read with interest a pair of articles last weekend about the German response to President Barack Obama and his continuing approval of the surveillance programs being conducted the security agencies of this country against its own citizens.One former East German Stasi chief said in the article that he is dumbfounded and amazed at the sheep like aspect of the United States citizens who would approve of this blanket level of spying being done on its own citizens. He was quoted as saying how jealous he would have been to have that level of information on his own citizens back when his job was terrorizing and securing the East German borders from outsiders and defectors within his country.Over and over again, European countries have not only disapproved of these programs but have expressed their amazement at how willing we are to allow this to occur. When your enemies have an issue and are openly expressing how gullible we are to the wholesale spying being done on us by our government, don't you think we should rethink this whole thing.It is no secret I am a conservative when it comes to the government and our fiscal policies, but I believe we have allowed our government to take too much control of our lives and it must stop.The Patriot Act while well intentioned goes way too far to steal our freedoms in exchange for security. It is wrong for any agency to have as much information as the NSA and the FBI do about our citizenry. This is a complete violation of our right to privacy and our freedom to move and act with independence.By spying on us without due process or just cause, this country is violating our civil rights and the Constitution millions of times a day on a daily basis. This is aberration to the basic tenets of our country.They claim they have protected us from terrorist acts but provide no details as to what exactly they learned. This is supposed to be an open society and this much secrecy is an imminent danger to our rights as free people. Political correctness plays a big part in how we got here. The stupidity of those who believe that police should not be allowed to use their instincts when it comes to preventing and solving crimes have stolen our freedom from us for this blanket of security.This is not a political thing. This is a basic freedom issue. Go back and reread the Declaration of Independence and perhaps the Constitution as well, then ask yourself. Do you deserve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? These documents promise us this at the base of their theses. We do not have this now. Operating in the veil of secrecy and secret courts, no transparency and accountability are not the hallmarks of America. This is the behavior of totalitarian governments, of dictatorships, of Stalinist Russia, East Germany, the KGB and the Gestapo. This is wrong. We are better than this.They may not listen to your phone calls, but those little supercomputers we carry provide much more damning information to the government. They provide the GPS coordinates of where you are, who you are with and what you are doing.Having an affair? They know where and with whom. Drinking behind your spouse's back or living a double life? Not any more, the government has a record of all of it. Own a firearm? They know where you go to practice and who is with you.And guess what? Some day thanks to the despicableness of human nature, that information could be used against you if there is ever a need.If our lawmakers really care about the security of this country they will stop protecting the criminals who are here illegally and send them back where they belong. If we crossed the border illegally of any other country we would be detained, deported or in some cases shot. Not in this country. It is amazing this is even debated.Lawmakers care more about their power and their voting blocs than they do about protecting our freedom and liberty. They show us this when they use it as a pawn or as a bargaining chip in their games.What do we do? Well if you care about freedom and love the liberty for which we provide lip service, it's time to use the few rights we still have to tell lawmakers no more. We are done, we want back the rights and freedoms which are our birthrights and tell the government to start obeying its own laws again.Trash the Patriot Act spying provisions. Start harassing these officials to fix this. Call them daily. Write them letters Is your security really worth the government knowing every little thing you do? I don't think so, do you?