How can we protect the covert activities that allow our government to protect us when.....?

How can we protect our American freedoms from a government that does whatever it wants without consulting the constitution?

The New York Times should be praised for doing something that's not popular. We need to know what the government is doing so that we have a chance to stop them from encrouching upon our hard fought and hard won liberties. If you want to live in a socialist state, move to one : ))

No precedent? BS. There has been terrorism since the French Revolution. The Towers were hit back in the 90's. America has been hit by terrorism before. Your just playing a sheep to the Bush white house spin masters so you'll give up your freedoms. We need to be on guard, yes, but we can't just hand over our rights. hehe or the Terrorists h-a-v-e won, no joke. We will no longer be america, land of the free.

Allow me to answer this with another question:

How much does the Government not tell us?

They don't tell everything. If they did, we probably wouldn't have a USA with the freedoms we do. We would soon be overrun by another group or country. What gets released is what Government officials either tell the press, or allow them access to. Because of our Constitutional rights, specifically freedom of speech, the information given to us through the media could be flat out lies. Sometimes reporters do not research properly or just go on hearsay. Think of how those freedoms can be used against the enemy. They know our rights, and I would imagine that they aren't stupid enough to trust something that may not necessarily be true.

Believe it or not, living in the US you are not getting every little detail (Especially before something has happened). I lived in Mexico and saw more accurate and more detailed reporting of US activities during my time there. The government only feeds the media what it feels is safe for the public to read. Besides that, in today's media age, for the first time, we as citizens have more information than any of our ancestors. We can determine based on media whether or not a politician is conducting corrupt operations. We can identify where and why our tax dollars are being wasted on high price furniture instead of in the areas its needed. Unfortunately, as citizens, we have yet to realize the power we really have and change the status quo. As long as people don't care, and don't want specifics, we will continue to be a society that is living in the dark despite the mass media.

"Those willing to give up liberty for security deserve neither"

-Benjamin Franklin

Or in other words... are you stupid? Freedom of speech is already limited as it is now, with all those big corporate monopolies owning most channels and hiding controversial stuff for as long as they can. You want to limit it even more?

Hitler also said he was "protecting his population" when he invaded Czechoslovaquia, when he sent the jews, gays and opposition leaders to concentration camps, when he abolished the german congress, etc.

Freedom of speech is the most wonderful and essential component of liberty and human progress. *Everything* must be questioned. Only questioning things are we able to improve them, only questioning our knowledge are we able to reach new ones.

I don't know about you, but I like that aspect of mankind.

As a person that actually lives in Argentina, a country that suffered a brutal (ahem, US-backed) dictatorship until very recently (1976-1983), I can tell you that having death squads "dissapear" people you know just because of their political opinions, or seeing a journalist publish an open letter critizing the military regime and then dissapearing one day later, is not funny.

Seeing your countries economy weaken, seeing unfairness as the rule, innocent women raped and tortured by genocidal maniacs, and not being able to speak against that because of being afraid of the consequences, is terrible. It's an horror beyond description.

I seriously cannot believe what you wrote. I cannot understand how someone can be so retarded. I really don't get your logic. Thousands, if not millions, of people have sacrifized their lives all through the course of human history so that you could sit in your comfy chair and say whatever you want, no matter how stupid it is... and now you want to ruin that?

The government does not protect you. The government *claims* to protect you. How do you know if they are keeping their promise, or if they are abusing their powers? Well, through free speech, that's the whole point.

"Corvert activities"? No sh*t, they are trying to cover their as-ses, so that when you discover about the Echelon network that they use to spy on your communications, or to commit industrial espionage against asian nations, you cannot link it back to them.

Please, if you still have your bigoted opinions with you after reading this, promise me you will stay in your country, far away from where I live. Because, I can tell you, you would make a terrific dictatorship citizen. And that's scary.

You make it sound like the most powerful man in the world, (the most powerful man in the most powerful country--Bush currently), couldn't have anything he wanted printed in the New York Times... He could call them right now and have them ship you an express letter with an apology for your nose-hair length. He runs $&!% around here, and it's not our job to protect those whose job it is to protect us. That's just nuts. The really covert, really protective activities will always stay that way, you'll never know about them.

They could know what we're talking about right now as part of a secret plan that we don't know about. It's just that simple.

I agree, and I think they and the leakers should be prosecuted for espionage, or whatever charges apply.

How can we protect? We cant, but what we need is strong leadership that is willing to enforce the laws on the books already that apply to this stuff. There are laws, but our weak politicians are too much worried about politics then they are about the welfare of the country. The talking heads on T.V. constantly use the phrase "political fallout" when referring to actions taken and their consequences. Hell, we dont elect our leaders to be politicians, we elect them to lead. And they have the nerve to wonder why voter turnout is so low. All they have to do is reflect on their performance, not just the President, but all of them. Congress, and the unelected court bungholes that are screwing royally up our judicial system.

There are still some outposts of media that do the job of researching and reporting the news. The Bush Administration does not like and will revile anyone going beyond being a stenographic parrot of their political handouts.

Lets expand on your question...Have you seen the programs aired on PBS concerning "train yard, ship yard & nucleur power plant security"? Multiple programs, aired multiple times detailing major flaws in security...Or how about all the news reported repeatedly that we don't have enough National Guard troops on US soil to help much with natural disasters, because our troops are scattered across other countries halfway around the world?

Lets see : Are we telling terrorists we are defenseless? Are we giving them large specific targets & telling them they are unprotected? Are we inviting others to just walk in & take over because we can't defend ourselves in a timely manner to stop them? Are we telling them our borders are basically unguarded allowing illegals to enter at will? Yes, Yes, Yes & uh, YES...Our media is acting irresponsibly & then people get mad because our government tries to guard borders or limit the amount of information given to the public...In my opinion...Not too bloody intelligent & I can only hope terrorists are not seeing ALL the programs aired telling how we are so defenseless...

I agree even during WWII FDR had certain restrictions placed on what we needed to know. The media has now entered a area where they are blatant in their attempt to destroy our war effort. I believe that if their was a more politically friendly President to their own Leftist views there would be no issue like this occuring.