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I don't trust politicians. They cannot be trusted to do what is right for the American public 99% of the time. Republicans use sly arguments to abuse the ignorance of the general populace, and Democrats come off as whiny because all they do is try to make life difficult for Republicans rather than coming up with good ideas.

With that said, I am sadly disappointed that anyone could badmouth Russ Feingold over his stance against the Patriot Act and illegal NSA wiretapping. It is one thing to disagree with him, but it is another to dismiss his argument altogether as political propaganda or crazy liberal nonsense.

Russ Feingold is the only senator with the balls to speak for what he believes is right, rather than follow the herd. For that alone, he deserves applause and respect. Think for a moment about whether there really is a legitimate reason to disagree with him, rather than dismissing him outright.

Wiretapping on United States Citizens is an illegal practice. This is a law. Whether you agree with it or not, it is a law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act

Let me quote:

"The President may authorize, through the Attorney General, electronic surveillance without a court order for the period of one year provided it is only for foreign intelligence information; targeting foreign powers as defined by 50 U.S.C. §1801(a)(1),(2),(3) [4] or their agents; and there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party."

There are special procedures through which the President may gain authorization to wiretap. These procedures are well known, and they are simple. I am not going to go into detail, but it is possible to get a warrant or authorization very, very quickly and with barely any oversight. This is legal.

What our President is doing is not legal. In the very least, it is lazy, and at most, it is being used against people who are not suspect of anything.

The argument that the President makes is that these people are terrorists, and we need to spy on them to stop terrorism. Well, how do we know that if there is no oversight of this practice? How do we know that the definition of terrorism that they are using really is only the terrorists which we fear? Not to mention, these are United States Citizens. Terrorists or not, every United States Citizen is granted the same exact rights as any other United States Citizens.

All of us voters... are United States Citizens. I would rather die free than live in a police state where anyone can be spied on at any time for absolutely no reason.

We have three branches of government to balance each other out, so that one does not get carried away. Our Executive branch is out of control. Our Legislative branch already created the above-mentioned law which requires Judicial oversight of wiretapping. Our Judicial branch is not getting the respect it deserves. Do we all of a sudden ignore laws just because we are afraid?

What message does this send to all the countries which we have been telling to be Democratic and Free? Saddam Hussein could wiretap without Judicial oversight... what message are we sending to the Iraqis?

More importantly, why are we cutting down a good man who is standing up for what he believes is right? We need more good men in the legislature, on both sides of the political spectrum. At least debate his argument, rather than try to dismiss it with smoke and mirrors, song and dance.