Homeland Security in Opening Private Mail

I confess I'm not sure how to feel about this story. On the one hand, I'm not happy that private email is being open and read by the government. On the other hand, I know that bombs and chemical agents (think: anthrax) can be mailed from outside and inside the U.S. I'd be much more comfortable with this if the parameters were known. What does "when it is determined to be necessary" mean? How is that determined? Who makes that determination? Under what guidelines do these people act? And couldn't officials determine if a dangerouse substance was inside the letter/package without actually opening and reading the material?

I'd also be far less uncomfortable with this latest discovery if it didn't come from the same administration that has announced the president is king and can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. And if it didn't come from the administration that seems to enjoy using torture just for the sake of using torture. And from the administration that has so openly thumbed its nose at the Bill of Rights.

I'd like to believe my government is trying to protect me. But I don't like the measures they've taken, and I am beginning to feel far less protected than before Dubya took office.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -- Benjamin Franklin, c. 1759