“I never had any idea that my government was wiretapping me at all,” said Rep. Jane Harman, A key Democrat who reportedly was overheard on a National Security Agency wiretap discussing a deal with a suspected Israeli agent. Rep. Harman has called the wiretap an “abuse of power.” Harman went on to say, “I, frankly, think my name is clear. My conscience is certainly clear. And I think the question is about … did our government abuse the rights of American citizens, including members of Congress, with legal or illegal wiretappings about things that were not appropriate and then selective leaking of the product of those wiretaps.”

With the danger of terrorist activities hanging over our heads, it is unfortunately necessary to watch people. As of May 2007 there were approximately 755,000 people, including aliases and different spellings of the same name, on the government’s watch list. I would like to think Rep. Harman isn’t on that list, but maybe the people on the other end were. There are specific steps that must occur to get put on the list.

An agent from the FBI, NSA or other federal agency nominates you before adding someone to the list. Then, that nomination moves on to the FBI’s Terrorist Review and Examination Unit. If the person checks out as a known or potential terrorist, it’s on to the Terrorist Screening Center and the watch list.

The process sounds like mechanisms are in place to ensure the correct people are put on this list, but a mispelling here or there and any of us could be watched. That being the case, I think it is a little unsettling to have someone like Rep. Harman involved in wiretapping. Unsettling, but given the reputation of our government officials, not surprising.

How do we draw the line – draw the line between protection of national security, obviously the government’s need to obtain intelligence data, and the protection of civil liberties, particularly the sanctity of my home? You’ve got no right to come into my home!  …. Larry King from the motion picture Enemy of the State (1998)

I don’t want my privacy invaded and you probably don’t either, but we must consider what is at stake.  Terrorists are real and they are making plans to commit murderous acts with no regard for their own lives.  What do you do to gain information about someone doing something who isn’t afraid to die?  I think you reluctantly cross out what used to be the old line, cross it and change the rules.  If a little of our privacy is compromised in the meantime at least we are alive to complain about it.