You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide.

[Ravy]

I hope every time some Bushbot says that over the next year or so, the IRS permanently places them on the "must audit" list.

[beyurslf]

1. I hate it when people say that. The Founders of the country would roll in

their graves if they heard that. If your government has nothing to hide then it won't need to trample the rights of its citizens.

[Guaranteed]

2. That's the perfect response.

I'm sorry...is THAT what Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin said?

Dirty, unAmerican bullshit.

[TomInTib]

3. When I hear that I just ask.....

Would you mind a stranger standing at the foot of your bed or hanging around your bathroom?

Where does it stop?

[wtmusic]

5. If the admin has nothing to hide

why does Junior refuse to release the 9/11 memos?

Oh that nasty, nasty sword of truth (it cuts both ways).

[moondust]

15. The Founding Fathers

undoubtedly were well aware of this totalitarian/monarchistic fallacy when they denounced illegal search and seizure with the Fourth Amendment.

[dusmcj]

4. are you compelled to be part of a herd ?

or an autonomous member of a public ? Herd animals snuffle together in the warm safe stench of their stall, and sacrifice privacy for security. Autonomous human beings choose when to join into a collective, and consider themselves and each other free to leave, and do not require surrender of autonomy in exchange for group participation. Which are we ?

I would not want to be part of any group that would have me as a member. Well, at least not any group that requires access to information about me irrelevant to our collective activities. I leave the mooing to those lower on the evolutionary scale.

[Protagoras]

6. No reason to object to them watching you take a piss

or bath...or have sex with your whomever...after all if you're not doing anything WRONG why should you care? What's a little lack of privacy compared to our security? After all, you might be building a terra device in the bathroom...or in the dressing room...or under the covers.

And how about those letters you send fiance...don't mind if we read em do ya? After all they might contain code...and every item you buy...we can record that...and your movements...nothing wrong with tracking you all the time if you don't have anything to hide.

In fact, why not just live on the schedule we provide...if you want to be a good citizen and you don't have any bad impulses then you shouldn't need to do anything that's not on the schedule.

and so it goes so it goes so it goes...

[Swamp Rat]

7. Good, because that is what THEY are doing right now anyway.

[Zynx]

8. I hate it when people say that.

Let me give a good example of why that is a B.S. statement to make:

Let's say that there is a terrorist attack somewhere in the country. You are obviously not involved, however the government decides that it will just randomly search houses around the country for clues since it is out of information. It does so without warrants since Congress has decided in a knee-jerk move to grant the executive branch the power to act without them. Suddenly, armed men come into your house and totally trash the place, overturning mattresses, knocking over bookshelves, and looking in your prized possessions. They don't take anything or arrest anyone, and they just leave you and your now wrecked house. These men were not the conventional form of terrorist, but the terrorist that is created when the government becomes too powerful and abridges our fundamental rights, including the right to privacy. The powers you give the government to go after the "evil doers" may be turned on you faster than you think. History in other countries tells us that is a very real possibility.

[Skittles]

9. they need to read a history book, stupid assholes

f***ing STUPID

[Dr Fate]

10. I ask if you go through his medicine cabinet or wife's closet.

When he says no, reply "But I thought that you have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide-right?"

[KharmaTrain]

11. As If You Trust Them To Be Watching Honestly...

I ran into a moron with that argument the other day..."hell, I've got nothing to hide...yuk, yuk, yuk..." Oh??? That doesn't matter to a regime gone wild...if they can boldly lie and manipulate information to launch a war, ya think they can't squash ya like a bug??? This is a world where it's not the actual crime that gets the scrutiny and can cause the most agony...it's the "investigation"...the accusatory stage where you have to prove your innocence against a machine of zealous prosecutors and aparachniks. They'll find something/anything if it suits taking someone down or providing that information to a political ally or donor who does.

IRS audits are just one of the many, many ways this regime can screw with you. There's credit ratings, passports, drivers licenses...anything that requires some form of government maintenance/oversight. The NRA's gotta be real, real nervous right now...even with their "friends" in charge.

[susu369]

14. Indeed, a citizen's innocence can be twisted

to the "regime's" need.

Just trust me? No thank you.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Then I suppose these folks with nothing to hide

won't mind registering all their guns and getting a license to prove they know how to use one? National security you know.

[DELUSIONAL]

13. If bushie has nothing to hide . . . . what about that hump on his back?

ah . . . the lump on his back during the debate.

Why didn't he take his jacket and his shirt off and show us what he was wearing?

I want to see the results of his blood tests -- how drunk is he and what sort of medications is he taking and for what reason, to treat what sort of condition.

I want to know the results of his psy exam -- what is his I.Q.? Oh and did he pass a lie detector test. And why not hook him up to a lie detector whenever he speaks in front of any group of people?

That bastard has all sorts of secrets -- like what happened to his first driver's license?

[sproutster]

16. Someone said that crap to me and I replied...

BS... Everyone of us breaks the law. We might speed, we might j-walk, we might have d/l'd mp3's on our hard drives, we might have borrowed software, we might have kids that are doing the above.

The spying by the government just means they might target you because they don't like your politics. How would you feel if it was a dem admin/house/senate and you found out they were spying on citizens?