The Patriot Act

During the debate it was hard to get all of my opinions in so I feel this is a good chance to do that. First, I think that the patriot act is necessary to a point. It is clear that we need protection from terrorism and if this is a way of stopping them and saving lives then by all means it should be enacted. Since the attack of September 11th has shown us how crazy these extremists can be and how they want to kill Americans, we see how dangerous they are. If they accomplished killing that many Americans who knows what they can do if we lack in protecting ourselves. The patriot act can help stop these attacks before they even begin so that no one will get hurt. What I heard a lot in the debate that I found weird was that people kept saying it was “prejudice” to tap phone lines. First, this makes absolutely no sense because it is tapping EVERYONE’S phone lines not just on specific group of people, or as many people accused, the Islamic population. This is not unfair because it is happening to everyone and if the Muslim people specifically have a problem with it there is nothing we can do. Also, if Muslim people are getting upset about being checked more carefully, there is nothing we can do to prevent that because you have to give up some of your freedoms in order to truly be free and freedom is safety because without safety there is no need for freedom. For example, when I am at an airport and I am standing in line next to a Muslim man they are more likely going to check him then me because it is the Muslim extremists who are committing this terrorist attacks. This is just like in World War II when the Japanese were sent to internment camps because the government found that spies on Pearl Harbor had played into the attack and that without these spies it would not have been possible. So, because of this fear the government put the Japanese Americans in internment camps. Yes, this is unfair and harsh, but it is important to protect our safety. I am not saying that we should protect our safety at all costs because I defiantly do not think we should turn into a dictatorship if that would keep us safe, but that we can all allow subtle changes in order to better the country as a whole. So the patriot act can keep us safe in many situations, but it is important not to take this too far and not to use it for things that are not directly related to terrorism and mass destruction, it should not be used to stop drug trafficking or any other crime except mass destruction and terrorism.