It's not "terrorist surveillance", folks.

In the midst of the scandal about collecting phone records of tens of millions of Americans, we have a lot of folks conflating the terms "terrorist surveillance" with what's actually going on. This is being done to obscure the Feds' role in a significant intrusion into public privacy. And, depending on the way this is framed, folks come down on different sides of the issue.

Ask "should we surveil terrorists, even if it means some infringement of privacy" and most folks will say yes. Ask "should the Feds infringe personal privacy even when it's unlikely to result in any leads to terrorists and may even undermine the effort to fight terrorism" then most folks, I dare say, would say NO.

So it's important to note: what the NSA is doing is not "surveilling terrorists" in this newly divulged phone database program, they're collecting phone records from average citizens. Folks like you and me. Americans INSIDE the US, with no probable cause to believe they are in any way related to committing a crime.

So when I hear tough-talking politicians like Kyl and Hayworth supporting the NSA program, framing it in such a way as to mislead folks about what's being done, it offends my sense of personal integrity. And when even worse arguments are made to bolster their position, I can't stay quiet about it.

In fact, inasmuch as these politicians are actively undermining our civil liberties, so they can posture and pretend to be making us safer, I get downright incensed.

Thus, when I read in the Arizona Republic that J.D. Hayworth is quoted as saying "if you don't associate with terrorists you have nothing to worry about", it caused a predictable reaction.

To Hayworth and his dittoheads that buy this argument: I have to ask whether you seriously believe the old "well, if you're not guilty, you have nothing to fear from the Feds" nonsense.

I mean, the same argument could be used to completely ditch the 4th Amendment, couldn't it?

Hey, if you ain't done nothin' wrong, then surely you don't mind the Feds sifting through your home, seizing your belongings for temporary review, etc.

What do you people think the 4th Amendment is all about? You think it's just some quaint piece of outmoded text on a dusty bit of parchment - getting in the way of our country's march to Neocon greatness?

Do you know what makes our country great? Here's a hint: it's not posturing politicians who trade in bombast, divisiveness and fear. It's the Constitution, and our willingness to defend it, that made our country great!

Ah, fear is such a powerful motivator. And the Republicans have spent years and a lot of money, time and bandwidth to make everyone as afraid as possible. But if you don't care about the Federal government abridging your civil rights because Osama and his goons makes you wet your pants, then you never understood what America is all about, anyway.

America is strong enough to safeguard our security without sacrificing our liberty. So grow a backbone: stand up to the threat of terrorism AND demand your rights! You don't have to forfeit one to do the other and any Administration worth supporting wouldn't ask you to, either.