Oh nation has, and always will be concerned with matters of having or abusing powers. From the time of our nation’s birth, the founding fathers first action was to limit the power as to not allow a single person to have absolute rule over the citizens of the United States of America. In 2005, the issue of power was tested when former President, George W. Bush, authorized the wiretapping of cell phones without the necessary warrant. Somehow, he got off with barely a scratch even though the United States is usually so concerned with invasion of privacy.
I think that this should have resulted in an impeachment for breaking the law. There should not have even been an argument over whether or not his actions were appropriate, it is unacceptable for the man that is supposed to be the face of our country to be able to break the law so easily, and then be able to back up his reasoning for doing so.
This situation is more than just breaking the law, however, and also addresses the popular issue of presidential powers. The executive branch was originally designed to have close to no power as to avoid a tyranny. The more modern idea is that the President does have the most power, but indeed that would most likely be congress. In order to defend his actions, Bush claimed that this was a duty under his power of Chief executive, a power that has never been clearly defined. I think that is a complete stab in the dark just for any excuse that would free him from blame. I also think that the President should not take advantage of the loosely defined power. If Bush is able to get away with wiretapping our cell phones then what is going to be alright for a president to do next? Things will quickly begin to get out of hand if we do not do something about the growing powers of the executive branch before these powers are unstoppable.
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I came across a colleague’s blog that stunned me. There was such emotion in what she wrote that it caught my attention, however when I read what her argument was about I was a little confused why someone would be so threatened and hurt by an issue that was overall just trying to protect her as a citizen.
First, let’s start by saying that the nation that we live in is not as safe as we make it out to be. Our country has had numerous threats to its government and citizens, and some have been fulfilled. The way that our world’s technology has expanded there is going to be more room for threats and something needs to be done so that our nation does not get inflicted with another major attack.
The fact that former George W. Bush authorized the wiretapping for cell phones does not bother me and I feel that so many citizens are having such a problem is stunning to me. The government is not interested in our day to day lives, and our personal issues and drama. They are just looking for threats to our nation and our citizens so that our country can feel safe and secure. The government is trying to avoid another attack like September 11th, where millions of lives were lost, and recently with the massacre at Fort Hood, where our own soldiers were attack without rhythm or reason. As a citizen I would rather have a wiretapping on every citizen’s cell phone including my own, to prevent an attack that could potentially affect my family and others that I love.
I feel that Ms. Pattison stated a very good argument about our privacy and the president abusing his presidential powers. However, she never once stated how our country is dealing with our security breaches day after day, and the major attacks that are happening in our country and our affecting our citizens. There should be no problem with our president wire tapping our cell phones. If nothing is being said that would possibly alert the government for any reason, they why are people so concerned. I am not stating that the president should have unlimited power and not be responsible for any actions that are unconstitutional or destructive, but if he has the proper evidence and reasoning for authorizing something as the wiretapping of the citizens cell phones for security purposes, then I feel he is within his duty as a president. The president, just like the rest of our government should be supervised when it comes to which powers they are allowed to have so that they are not abused. However, the problem is that we do not have anyone to supervise them.
I agree with Ms. Pattison that something needs to be done about the issue of presidential powers, but as a growing nation we also need to develop stricter security measures, to make up to the technology that has been evolving in our world. We live in a nation that is not liked overall by the majority of other countries and I would rather live in a country that has better security and protects my loved ones and me, than a country where anyone and everyone can attack us because our security has minimized due to our problems with invasion of privacy. I would hope that the majority of our citizens in this nation would feel the same.
In my classmates blog she made a strong argument about how our government shouldn't have the right to wire tap our cell phones without a warrant. I fully agree with her remarks, nobody should have the right to break the law to enforce the law, so the government needs to gather reasonable evidence and get a warrant before they wiretap. She really gets the message out there with great feelings. Were losing the meaning of America and we need to do something about that.
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