Do you believe the Democratic Party should take the lead in curtailing the surveillance state?

[Douglas Carpenter]

Definition of CURTAIL


: to make less by or as if by cutting off or away some part <curtail the power of the executive branch> <curtail inflation>

— cur·tail·er noun


Examples of CURTAIL

The new laws are an effort to curtail illegal drug use.
School activities are being curtailed due to a lack of funds.


Origin of CURTAIL

by folk etymology from earlier curtal to dock an animal's tail, from curtal, noun, animal with a docked tail, from Middle French courtault — more at curtal
First Known Use: 1580


Related to CURTAIL

Synonyms: abbreviate, abridge, shorten, cut back, dock, elide, syncopate, truncate

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curtail?show=0&t=1373928312

13 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	1. NO! That could make the Democratic Party soft on terroism and appear soft on terrorism thus causing a great deal of damage to our electability..
	0 (0%)
	2. NO! All this fuss about \"the surveillance state\" is a bunch of nonsense to weaken the Obama Administration and I don\'t want any part of it!
	1 (8%)
	3. Both 1 and 2
	0 (0%)
	4. YES! This ever increasing surveillance state is or will become a threat to our liberty if it is not signficantly curtailed.
	1 (8%)
	5. YES! It is already an issue whether we like it or not and it is not going away. If the Democratic Party does not make it an issue - someone else will - much to the Democratic Party\'s liability
	0 (0%)
	6. Both 4 and 5
	11 (85%)
	7. I Don\'t Always Drink Beer, But When I Do I Prefer Dos Equis ...
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Nuanced poll, I likes it

[Douglas Carpenter]

10. I try to make them as nuanced as possible - but I still get accused of push polling

[Riftaxe]

2. Not until the other party cannot benefit from it

because of course, surely a little liberty is nothing to sacrifice in a "good" cause, anyone disagreeing obviously suffers from a morally crippling case of intelligence and principle.

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. kick for more reults

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. mpore

[Zorra]

5. Good poll.

[moondust]

6. Note to lawmakers:

It should be obvious that if you do not establish effective, safe and secure official channels for whistleblowers and take them seriously, you are inviting and may be forced to deal with unpredictable global responses to unauthorized releases into the wild.

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. on a lighher note - answer # 7 came from this interesting series of Dos Equis commercials

[limpyhobbler]

8. curtail

I voted to curtail(4) but not 5 or 6

It's really important the Democrats come around on this issue because if they don't, the issue is probably going to just be marginalized.

[mick063]

9. Let the GOP take the lead on pot and surveillance

and the Democratic party will regret it.

Public opinion can swing in a hurry when critical mass is approached. Just look at the LBGT issue for an example.

You don't want the appearance of being against populist issues.

The Democrats have already dug themselves in a hole with respect to Goldman Sachs holding a seat on the cabinet.

[cali]

11. Yes. And it has. Senators Wyden and Udall among others have been vocal

Senator Leahy has introduced the FISA Accountability and Privacy Act.

Not saying it's enough, but it's a start.

[allin99]

17. Now Sen Richard Blumenthal from CT. : ).

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. They could take a fiscal conservative approach too

This surveillance apparatus appears to be self perpetuating and growing monster that we rightfully should fear.
One estimate that I saw, stated that 70% of the homeland security budget is spent on private contractors( is it known how much is spent directly on surveillance)? These companies would will lobby the government for more business, staffed with former high level employees of the government and congress, creating ever greater 'products' and legal justifications to expand the ability to spy on citizens. Very few outside the administration know what is going on, so where is the proper oversight?

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. I get the impression that a lot of people think the surveillance state is awesome.

As long as there's a Democratic president in charge.

The most interesting thing about the whole Snowden affair, as an observer, has been seeing the sometimes surprising reflexive expresssions of authoritarianism ("traitor", etc) from some of the same people who would probably have decried the same thing under Bush (which one can only conclude means partisanship is their only principle).

[Douglas Carpenter]

14. that is the part that almost makes me cry... I honestly and sincerely believed that Democrats, and

liberals and progressives where driven by principles - It was the Republicans who would turn their positions upside down on their head in one minute - for the sake of blind partisanship. Democrats had more integrity. But, what have we seen on this issue? Nothing but cold blood sophistry, unpatriotic betrayal of principle and ludicrous twisting of reality -to justify something they would be condemning and condemning those who made excuses for - the betrayal of central and core, fundamental democratic values and principles.

[1-Old-Man]

15. How, pray tell, can we Democrats curtail Survelence when our President supports it?

[Octafish]

18. How about we Democrats just act like concerned citizens? You know, like in a Democracy?

In such a political system, we'd express our opinions to our elected representatives. We could state, write, telephone or email our thoughts, free and unconcerned in the knowledge that our positions were not monitored or recorded. With public opinion being overwhelmingly in favor against NSA spherical spying on the American public, Congress and the President would certainly make changes in the law that We the People demanded. Unless, of course, there was another power we didn't know about, a secret government as it were.

[Douglas Carpenter]

20. Democrats ended up taking the lead on opposition to the Vietnam War even though the War was

initially escalate by Democratic presidents. There have been any number of issues that Democrats took a stand on in spite of the position of much of the Democratic leadership

[Douglas Carpenter]

16. knr

[librechik]

19. Sure they should. Not gonna happen.

they only struggle on the web like the rest of us bugs.