When confronted by far deadlier threats, Americans are much less willing to cede freedom and privacy.

www.theatlantic.com/politics/

Political Irony?

Is it not just alittle ironic that #1 Obama criticized Bush so much for (illegal) invasions of privacy and now he is doing (legal) invasions of privacy under FISA (which has, as i understand it, Ok'd 100% of the requests made so far) and #2 That both parties can't seem to agree on anything (with the possible exceptions of immigration, could be argued that Republicans have to to survive) EXCEPT on surveillance of Americans?

Obama's line about "I think it's important to recognize that you can't have 100 per cent security and also then have 100 per cent privacy and zero inconvenience" rings familiar working in all the former soviet republics I have worked in. Familiar in that for more than half a century soviet citizens were told about not only how they were being kept safe, but how often they were being "saved" from the Americans, and when questioning (right before being sent to Siberia) being told matter a factly "They [the Americans] haven't attacked us! See how good a job we are doing"!!... which makes me recall another quote, for all those out there who are shrugging this off, from George Santayana "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"...

Relevant 3 years ago, and still relevant now.