This whole thing is so rediculous. It happens every day, it just so happens that this time someone found out. Agencies like the NSA and the DOD spy on 'citizens' all the time without the proper authorization.
Now, let's define 'citizen' in this case. These were primarily 'foreign' born citizens. People who had contact with known terrorists or terrorist organizations. Not just casual contact, but serious and in most cases repeated contact with these people/organzations.
Scenario: (and I'm not being racist - drop the PC crap for a minute and accept reality). Achmed moves here from Pakistan. He and all his homies hate America, so he's the 'sleeper'. He comes over here, spends some time, becomes a citizen, maintains a respectable business, pays his taxes, etc. One day, his buddies call and say, "Hey, we need to let someone stay at your house", or "We need some cash", or any number of things that terrorist organizations need. He says 'Sure', because he's a citizen, but still hates this country and the people in it.
Now, I don't give two cents if we 'violate' his rights by spying on him. If Big George wants to hear me order a pizza on my cell phone or follow me around while I do errands, that's fine. I don't care, because I have nothing to hide. If it helps stop one terrorist act in this country, then it's worth it. You people who hate Bush so blindly that you can't even see what is happening in this country need to get a grip. Have you all forgotten 9-11? When it happens again in your back yard, you'll be the very same people who blame the man because he didn't stop it.
I hate to bring a crushing reality down on you, but we may have to give up a little in the way of freedom for our safety. And don't give me the 'slippery slope' crap either. Everyone wants to declare that the sky is falling now that there is 'domestic spying'. What a joke - it's been going on for years, by every president elected, and we don't all live in the Gulag, now do we?
Whew...now I've vented and feel better.