Americans Want the Govt. to Get Warrants before Eavesdropping

Over the past three weeks, President Bush and top aides have defended the
electronic monitoring program they secretly launched shortly after Sept. 11,
2001, as a vital tool to protect the nation from al-Qaida and its affiliates.

Yet 56 percent of respondents in an AP-Ipsos poll said the government should be required to first get a court warrant to eavesdrop on the overseas calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens when those communications are believed to be tied to terrorism.
Agreeing with the White House, some 42 percent of those surveyed do not believe the court approval is necessary.

Pretty interesting. Normally, I'm against poll-driven governance, but where it conflicts with my views on the expansion of government powers (especially executive powers), I hope the will of the people is followed.

Anyway, some good news:

According to the poll, age matters in how people view the monitoring.
Nearly two-thirds of those between age 18 to 29 believe warrants should be
required, while people 65 and older are evenly divided

At least theres some hope that we'll make some changes in the future.

KH