USA Patriot Act

Some news reports have suggested that the Bush administration used the USA Patriot Act to look at the e-mails of American citizens without a warrant. What's your position if this was indeed the case? Should citizens be willing to give up their privacy? Does it bother you to know that your online communications are very potentially semi-private instead of private?

At first when I read this question, I was against the Bush administration doing such a thing but now when I think about it, I am for it. If this indeed was the case, I support it. If it's for our safety as a citizen, then I think it is needed. If someone was emailing another person talking about terrorist attacks, I would DEFINITELY want the Bush Administration to handle it. If they didn't have the USA Patriot Act to look at the emails, then our safety is at risk. Citizens should be willing to give up their privacy for their own safety. If it's for national reasons and for national security, citizens need to be willing to give up some of their privacy for the nation. If people really have a problem with this Act then maybe they're the terrorists planning something. I would find it a little weird that citizens wouldn't be willing to give up some of their privacy for the sake of national security and other U.S. citizens. It does not bother me at all that our online communications are very potentially semi-private instead of private because I know it's for a very good reason. If the Bush administration was just reading through emails to spy on citizens' personal life, that is one thing and that would be wrong, but if they are trying to protect this country from something happening in the future, then by all means, I'd rather have semi-privacy. If we don't allow the government to potential look at our e-mails, we could be endangering our lives. Therefore, I support the Bush administration using the USA Patriot Act to look at e-mails for our own national security and to try and prevent potential dangerous acts.