As a society, we expect our civil liberties to be protected by the laws of our national government. We also expect to be safe when we leave our homes and go about the business of our daily lives, but lately it has been an increasingly difficult chore for our government to perform its duties at the optimum level. Increased terrorist threats and attacks on civilian territory have put pressure on the government to step up its game in the protection of its citizens. Unfortunately, roadblocks put in place by civil libertarians prevent our government from doing so. As a direct result, we as a society need to decide what is more important; we can put more power into the hands of the national government in an effort to protect ourselves from domestic threats, or we can restrict the power of the national government in the interest of preserving civil liberties, but then hold ourselves responsible every time a plane is high-jacked or a subway is blown to pieces. Unfortunately, most people just want the government to protect us without infringing on our civil liberties and without having to take that kind of responsibility upon themselves. Well, it just doesn’t work that way.