To the Editor:
"Spies, Lies and Wiretaps" (editorial, Jan. 29) is an eloquent call to United States citizens to wake up and notice the constitutional crisis in our midst.
Spying on Americans without a warrant breaks current law and sets President Bush above the law. The Bush administration is trying to convince us that it needs to bypass our country's system of checks and balances in order to save us from the terrorists.
But just look at the facts. We already have laws in place that make it easy to spy on terrorists. These laws both make our country strong in the fight against terrorism and uphold the Constitution by requiring warrants.
The Bush administration is wasting precious time and energy fighting to destroy the rights of ordinary Americans rather than using a system that already works. We need to defend our Constitution, our greatest hope in fighting terrorism.
Kathy Rappaport
Santa Fe, N.M., Jan. 29, 2006
Nevertheless, this woman does have a point. Remember, these are people that have been ACCUSED of being terrorist. They have not been convicted in a court of law of act(s) of terrorism. Do we start denying people their constitutional rights based upon an accusation or suspicion?