George,

The distrust of all levels of government has reached near epidemic levels. Recent revelations only seem to confirm this distrust.

Comments from President Obama, meant to be reassuring, have little effect. All too often, what is meant to convince Americans that all is well and our liberties and freedoms are safe and intact turns out to be not so.

So when we are told the NSA's monitoring of phone calls is limited only to numbers and frequency and not actually listening, a skepticism greets those remarks.

And why not? Over and over, we learn on further investigation that we are lied to and the cloak of secrecy is all important for "national security."

Recent presidents, from Johnson, Nixon, Ford to Clinton, Bush I and II and Obama, feed us this all purpose excuse for secrecy and spying as "national security."

It has gotten progressively worse since 9-11

Now we learn that the spying and monitoring goes beyond our shores, and find Germany is in an uproar over our Stasi/Gestapo methods!

I honestly feel the time is long past that we ask to be left alone! Yes, our security is surely of the highest priority, but when we see our phones tapped, our internet communications monitored, surveillance of what we read or books we buy "watched" by government agencies. And politicians only too willing to rubber stamp keeping us "in line," our security seems only an excuse to keep the government "boot" on our necks.

It is becoming more and more clear at least in my opinion, that we are losing freedoms we have always taken for granted.

It is scary and the erosion must be halted before we wake up in a total police state!

Harry Tenney (Electronic mail, June 29, 2013)