It's already being abused. 

Part of protecting our country is to repair and maintain right relations with our allies in other countries. U.S. policies to "go it alone if we must" over the past 8 years were a detriment to resolving the Iraqi middle east crisis.  In fact, if we hadn't thumbed up our noses to the international community regarding the issues of Iraq, we wouldn't be counting the number of dead and maimed U.S. soldiers (over 4,000 now).  These aren't just figures, they are our sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, etc. - once previously living, breathing beloved human beings who had a life...

Re-establish balance by honoring laws previously in place before abuses changed them: abiding by the codes of the geneva convention, and adhering to the FISA laws and many, many more.  Our credibility and ally assistance will be restored once we restore human rights and civil liberties.

In the words of benjamin franklin:

"He who chooses security over freedom deserves neither."

Freedom for the american people!

 This is perhaps the most important thing to do if we wish to remain a free society.  We must also be completely transparent in how we arrive at this policy--hiding behind phony 'security' is reprehensible.

I think it's misleading to talk about a "balance". That implies that there are some civil liberties we ought to give up in favor of security. I think that's the wrong way to think about this issue.

Civil liberties are, by definition, those things that all citizens are entitled to, all the time. That's where we start. Then we need to build security policies that embody that. We don't make compromises, because then we aren't securing the society we want to have. Ultimately, civil liberties are what we are securing with our security policies. Giving them up to be "more secure" is nonsensical -- once you give up civil liberties, you are less secure.

I'm voting to increase this but actually agree more with Mark's perspective.  Righting the wrong will go a long way in encouraging bi-partisan support accross the country among the people.

FALSE SECURITY & THE BILL OF RIGHTS

RESTORE OUR BILL OF RIGHTS.

I am a U.S. citizen and I teach Englih in China. Recently I taught a short course in a noted Chinese University on, "American Culture."  I quickly found what the students most wanted to know was WHY is life in America different? WHY have Americans invented so many things? WHY are Americans so free to express themselves?

When I went to the Constitution of the U.S.A. and specifically the Bill of Rights I found which looks like the basis of most of what was lost in my beloved country in the last years - since the installation of "Homeland Security."

We lose far far more as people and a nation  than we gain in 'security' by removing our rights  as people uner a system of just laws which have steered our governemtn and its leaders well throughout our history.  It is dangerous to allow the changes in the Bill of Rights to stand!

One good step for this would be to re-establish the "wall" that had existed between foreign intelligence gathering and criminal prosecutions before the passage of the PATRIOT Act. Information gathered on foreign powers or international terrorists should be used to prosecute those people, but it should not be used in regular criminal proceedings unrelated to international terrorism or the actions of foreign agents, since there is not enough judicial oversight of intelligence gathering techniques to satisfy Due Process.

I don't want ever again to be deprived of my civil rights, including habeas corpus, because my president and his minions claim to be acting on my behalf to protect me from an imminent threat.   I don't want ever again to be embarrassed to go abroad because my country tortures people.  

Shameless

This is nice but you need to define balance for it to have meaning.

MEXICAN DRUG WAR is AMERICAN DRUG WAR

I strongly encourage everyone who votes up this idea to vote up the idea MEXICAN DRUG WAR is AMERICAN DRUG WAR: Revamp the Controlled Substance Act for Border Security

Here's where you can find it:
http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov/ideas/viewIdea.apexp?id=087800000004mhk&srPos=2&srKp=087

To be politically expedient, we should not be asking Obama to "legalize marijuana." We should ask him to revamp the Controlled Substance Act, descheduling marijuana so that it may eventually be feasible to make legalized.

Since it is a new idea and needing a BOOST, please vote this up and encourage all your friends to do so as well!

I voted this up, but just keep in mind that these are OUR civil liberties we're talking about, NOT theirs.  American citizens are given rights and privelages by our laws, the bill of rights and our constitution - these things don't apply to non-Americans.  With that said, I don't believe in torturing people, regardless of where they are from, I just think people extend our rights to people that don't deserve them, sometimes.

I do believe that this 'Homeland Security' has become more of a gestapo type of behavior from the TSA security in airports to customs.  We Americans are so reactionary to events.  Some bozo 7 years ago tried to blow up a plane by his shoe and thus only in America do we have to remove shoes to enter secure areas.  People lose small articles because they are not on the 'approved' list.  I lost my can of shaving cream because the can was 8 oz instead of the approved 6 oz.  Also lost a container of yogurt because..........well it wasn't on the list though it was sealed.  But suppose I could have explosive napalm in it or something!  Ya right.  Do you think that these terrorists will use planes now?  Most experts say no! 

I voted this up too. I think a great start would be to eliminate the the unconstitutional Patriot Act. Any future similar legislation should have to pass a simple test. Is it CONSTITUTIONAL? We the People should never barter our individual freedom for security, real or imagined! 

Though "a balance" always sounds nice, in this case I believe it is misguided. There can be no balance when it comes to our civil liberties, and as soon as we attempt to compromise on our rights for the sake of  "protection," or anything else, we sacrifice that which makes this country so great. I cannot vote this up because it leaves the door too open -- open at all! -- to the kinds of creaks and cracks that lead to more dramatic abuses.

I would abolish the Department of Homeland Security ("homeland" sounds just a little too familiar to students of 1930 Nazi Germany).  I would abolish the expensive joke that is the TSA and I would place the Coast Gaurd and the Customs and Immigration Services where they formerly resided in the Departments of Treasury and Justice.  I would then spend the billions in savings on non-military foriegn aid and a dramatic enhancement of the Peace Corps as the preferred form of service in a new mandatory national service program for all 18 year-olds.

The PATRIOT ACT is the exact opposite of its name, as intended. It is the most Draconian, evil, and horrendous pieces of legislation ever passed by the US Congress. 

The only way you can pass a horrible piece of legislation like this is to create a state of fear, and then play on people's fears to ram it through (much like the bailout).

If this country is to return to its constitutional values, this horrific law needs to be repealed.

   I am voting this up even though it is poorly worded, with "balance" being the problem. I agree with others, best said by Mark, that our Constitutional Civil Liberties are what makes us Americans. There's no "balance" in it.

And, when in doubt, err on the side of liberty.