Social Studies Current Event
Social Studies Current Events
Daniel Noguera
March 6, 2007
This current event is about a new software that is used to tap wires. The Bush administration insists it holds “inherent authority” to gather intelligence from
U.S. citizens suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda and other overseas terrorists. In early congressional testimony, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez, talked about concern “about the public disclosure that may endanger the national security of our country.” Critics are not happy by the White House’s latest concession because it constitutes only a temporary reprieve: That is, the Bush administration reserves the right to restart the program at any time. It’s “a bit like a bank robber coming into court and arguing that, although he has been sticking up banks for the past half-decade, he has agreed to a temporary halt and therefore he shouldn’t be prosecuted,” writes Professor James Bamford of the University of California-Berkeley in the New York Times. I believe that this is an important event because for one thing it could cause great economical imbalances because of people not comfortable with having there phone lines tapped. On the other hand it could alos help us catch members of suspeted terrorist groups.
link to essay here
March 14th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Hey,
first of all I would like to say I’m especially interested and impressed by your choice of topic, its a long way away from the usual Iraq, bombs and natural disasters, and it really does affect us all.
The funniest thing about this is–both sides are right, but both are sort of arguing against themselves, especially in that the cost for privacy is lack of security, and the cost for lack of security is privacy. It’s time to weigh the scales…
Anyways, great job, and I hope to be updated on this issue!
March 24th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
This has been a major debate in the US for a long time. It is only now coming to the forefront because of the war against terrorism. On the surface, as a liberal American who values my privacy I should be outraged at the intrusion of the government. However, nothing is ever black and white. The US has received lots of negative attention because some of the choices our current administration has been making. But I do wonder how drastically different my decision would be if I were in charge of the economic and military giant nation of the US. It’s hard to be on top. I think our administration is fearing the inevitable cycle of social and political superiority. Maybe it’s time to give up our leadership. Who knows? I’m curious to see how future generations will look back at the US and the world today.