I just watched the first season episode of The West Wing called "The Short List" in which privacy rights are a major point of consideration in President Bartlet's choice of a Supreme Court nominee. Rob Lowe's character, Sam Seaborn, said something interesting in this episode -- something to the effect of privacy being the number one legal issue of "the next 20 years." He continued by listing the internet as a major source of potential privacy violations.
President Bartlet, in the end, selected a nominee (Edward James Olmos) with a long record of decisions upholding the Constitution's various guarantees of privacy.
This episode was shot two years before 9/11. And now our real life Congress is getting ready to pass a law in which telecommunications companies who illegally handed over your internet and phone records to the federal government will be offered legal immunity from prosecution. Your privacy is obsolete and the Bush Republicans -- along with the Democratic leadership -- are letting it happen so they don't look weak on terrorism. So instead they're betraying the Constitution and your privacy.
Do you feel safer?