Benjamin Franklin famously stated that "they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." A little-noted finding of the new WSJ/NBC poll reveals that a majority of Americans remain willing to trade their liberty for the promise of security. The poll asked (.pdf, p. 23):

How willing are you to give up personal freedoms and civil liberties to prevent another terrorist attack?

Very willing – 18%
Somewhat willing – 34%
Somewhat unwilling – 21%
Very unwilling – 23%
Not sure – 4%

Arguably, then, according to Franklin's maxim, 52% of Americans deserve neither liberty nor safety. Unfortunately, if such attitudes persist, we will all be deprived of both.

http://politeaparty.blogspot.com/2010/05/poll-majority-of-americans-deserve.html