Opposing the Bill are the ACLU, Amnesty International, Global Fund for Women, Global Rights, Human Rights Watch, International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association, The Nation magazine, PEN American Center, Service Employees International Union and other plaintiffs.

The rights of individuals, whether within the USA or elsewhere, are secondary to the rights of US agencies that are allegedly seeking out possible terrorism targets. When passed in 2008, the law is a way to retroactively legitimize his (Bush’s) administration’s practice of spying on American citizens without a warrant.

I read a report from #NBCnews.com today that China “has unveiled tighter Internet controls on Friday, legalizing the deletion of posts or pages which are deemed to contain "illegal" information and requiring service providers to hand over such information to the authorities for punishment.” http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/china-tightens-internet-controls-legalizes-post-deletion-1C7755876

You are tempted to think “Thank God I don’t live in China. At least I have the right to have an opinion and not face oppression as a result. But when you see what is happening in America and what other governments are prepared to do in the name of fighting terrorism, you wonder how different we are. At least in China they don’t hide behind claims of freedom of speech and the rights of the individual, they just come out and do what they want. If you don’t like it, they put you in goal or kill you. It makes you wonder.

As Andrew Jackson said in his Farewell Address, March 4, 1837 "But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government."