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January 27, 2006
Big Brother not such a Big Deal to Americans?
Another poll was released today in regards to finding the balance between civil liberties and the war on terror. I found out about this new LA Times/Bloomberg Poll on MSN Money.
Some relevant parts:
- By 51 percent to 40 percent, those polled said Americans "should be willing to give up some of their civil liberties" to fight terrorism.
- A solid majority, 59 percent to 33 percent, said Congress should reauthorize the Patriot Act. (A dispute over privacy rights that has pitted Bush against virtually all Senate Democrats and a few of the chamber's Republicans has stalled renewal of the anti-terrorism measure.)
- A narrow plurality, 49 percent to 45 percent, said they supported Bush's decision to allow the National Security Agency to intercept, without a warrant, international communications suspected of links to Al Qaeda.
- Almost half (46 percent) said they would not mind if the government monitored their calls "as part of the fight against terrorism"; 53 percent said they would object.
Maxwell, the office manager in Louisiana, was among those who said she would not complain. "I have nothing to hide," she said. "As long as it is used to protect our country, it is fine."
Still, a majority said they wanted Congress to hold hearings on the spying program. And nearly two-fifths (including almost three-fifths of Democrats) said they would consider it an impeachable offense if a congressional investigation concluded that Bush broke the law in authorizing the program.
I found it interesting that almost two-thirds of Americans seem to be OK with government monitoring of their own phone calls. Especially since other aspects of the poll show approval ratings between 30 and 40 percent for both Congress and the President. It seems people are reluctant to trust the government to govern efficiently, but are more willing to trust them to monitor us in the name of security.
Has the age of open information exchange -- on the Internet and in the marketplace -- eased people's anxiety about monitoring of our personal information and correspondence?
Posted by Matt Ford at January 27, 2006 02:32 PM
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