"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin said that a long time ago, in 1759, but it seems as if he had the ability to gaze into the future and give us the wisdom we'd need to help this generation negotiate the thin line required to guarantee both safety and freedom. Anyone who would sacrifice freedom for safety will lose not only their freedom but their safety, from the biggest threat any individual can face: the overwhelming powers of a dictatorial and controlling government. The United States is not there yet, but history has taught us that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" (Lord Acton).

The price of safety is eternal vigilance, but not eternal vigilance by intelligence agencies upon U.S. citizens. Of course, those rules will not be applied against U.S. citizens in this administration or the next, but sometime down the road a future administration will use the laws written and passed today to abuse and strip future citizens of their civil rights. The largest saving grace of humanity is that we can learn from our mistakes in our history and not repeat them. Let's do that now, and guarantee the rights we have for future generations. Fight the war on terrorism -- not the war on U.S. citizens who might disagree with the government.