Defenders of spying deserve deportation

Beverly Ann Sharpf says she is "thrilled that our president is doing everything possible to keep me safe" -- including spying on citizens for which he may or may not have probable cause to do so. And he may not, since he refuses even to notify a secret rubber-stamp court of his surveillance of American citizens.

This is a direct challenge by the administration to the other two branches of government. Left unchecked, it will illegally expand the president's power and set a frightening precedent. Bush may not have set out to accumulate ever more power, but power corrupts. Without the Founders' checks and balances, even the most ethical president can continue expanding his power and become a despot and eventually even a dictator.

Benjamin Franklin cautioned that those who would give up essential liberties for a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security. Ms. Sharpf and the many others who have written similar letters certainly deserve neither. Their encouragement of attacks of American citizenship proves them to be unworthy of it.