It would indeed by nice if these were all true.

Mmm, what a powder keg these statements are. First, American citizens do create treason and should be watched. Second, watching them isn't illegal. Third, not giving Saddam underwear for three days is not torture. Compared to what he did to his own people, it is laughable what is happening to him. Fourthly, if we cared what other countries thought, then you missed the point of your parents argument of not doing things because your friends did. It was a pretty elementary argument, but I guess it skipped over some kids heads. Putting it another way, if we believed this form of reasoning, we would still be under the Crown because only France was for the Revolution in 1776.

Watching American citizens can certainly be illegal if done improperly. It depends entirely on the circumstances. And we have laws in place that dictate what is and isn't illegal. If those laws are no longer sufficient, then we have systems in place to change them. It is not ok for any American, including the President, to decide for themselves whether a law is good and needs to be followed. There is absolutely no exception to that in my opinion.

When my parents taught me not to blindly follow my friends, they also taught me not to blindly follow my elected officials.