IMHO, this was the beginning of the end as far as privacy rights are concerned. It never should have happened.[/quote]
CAR: I agree it should never have happened, but, sadly, our privacy rights and civil liberties have been under assault for decades now and BOTH parties are at fault.
You can go back to the “Red Scare” right after WWI, the “Nazi Scare” right before and during WWII, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and good, ole “Tailgunner” Joe McCarthy and his bullshit for a good look at your civil liberties being shredded for nearly a century.
This is a good example of the “boiling frog” theory at work. Its been a slow, steady erosion and we still haven’t awakened to the fact that the most precious right of all, individual liberty, is now fundamentally at risk.