Dear Pres. Obama: Dissent isn’t Possible in a Surveillance State (By Juan Cole)

[JDPriestly]

36. Getting a warrant is quite easy.

It does not take long. Our Constitution requires a warrant.
that person is willing to create a situation in which a dictator could easily take over and intimidate everyone, then that person will probably approve of the surveillance.

If a person cares about the rule of law, our Constitution and the separation of powers that is the key to the organization of our government as I do, then you probably understand that this surveillance is extremely dangerous to our country.

If a person likes the idea of a dictatorship with incriminating information on just about everyone (you might be surprised at how many criminals you have contact with), then welcome to 1984 in its new and improved 2013-2014 edition. Because that is what we have. That is what we are moving toward.

U.S. Constitution

. . . .
Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment

It is unreasonable for the NSA to be searching our phone, e-mail and other bills and perhaps even recording our electronic conversations. Utterly unreasonable. There may be advantages to doing that in specific, isolated situations. But getting a warrant when needed is much simpler than catching and organizing and analyzing all that electronic data, much easier. You fill out a form and present it to a judge. Generally the judge will sign the warrant. It's as easy as that.

The NSA is way out of bounds.