NSA Wiretaps Revisited

Editor note: The following is a response to January 30th post to the Soul Theory blog  (appears to be a blog inactive), unfortunately it would not let me post the comment in the new beta version of blogger. And, since I had such a writer’s moment I could not waste it to the either. My response is to his commentary regards the NSA wiretaps.

The issue is not, whether or not "they" are listening in, but shifting of the government view of its people from "you are innocent 'unless' proven guilty" to the "citizenry is guilty 'until' your proven innocent." This shifts the power away from the people to the government saying "'trust us' we know what we are doing...."

History has shown us that when governments are left unchecked abuse of power, authority, and oppression soon follow. Did we not learn the lessons of communism: see the example of the Soviet Union, China, and Vietnam as those nations combined "disappeared" or killed well over 30 million deaths for simply having a different opinion. The last two in the list, "re-educated you" for having a brain and being educated.

Some claim that could never happen here, but fascism in the thirties did not happen in a vacuum it happened because persons were fearful and handed over power to their governments, because "it" knew best.

"A journey begins with a single step," is oft quoted, beginning a journey with our government that says "trust us" blindly will lead us, the people, into authoritarian state. And, before anyone assumes that I am assuming that I mean only the Bush administration, I also mean any administration that follows this one--democrats, greenies, or even libertarians. Government does not give back power unless the people keep it in check.

Moreover with the "War on Terror" being so nebulous of who is the enemy (other than those 'Islamofascist'), and with an ending not able to be defined, this gives government the ability to create constant fear within its people undercuts the liberty asserted by the founding fathers.

And when persons are fearful they tend to let their options be limited. Fear makes one small. With all that said, I believe that government should be able to monitor communication but with warrants in place so we can monitor their intent and direction of their investigations.

We have already have presidents abuse this power already, FDR and Richard Nixon are two prime examples--so I say to you, let's not simply surrender to fear, but instead use pragmatism, rationality, and reason to keep our government in check even when it seems the darkest.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I totally agree with you. My question is: What can we do about it? Usual answer is: Vote the bums out.
Unfortunately, this is not even possible. I live in PA., where Santorum, that raving lunatic, is going to get re-elected. He was down 18 points. It was uncovered that he made illegal contributions to the Green Party, to take votes away from Casey. Then, he had that WMD meltdown. Then it was uncovered that his people forged thousands of signatures on the Green Party's electoral petition.
Why do I bring this up? Due to his massive war chest and incumbent status, he's now narrowly LEADING!
WE CAN'T GET RID OF THESE GUYS!
Publius said…
I believe your worries that our civil rights are being breached, or that we are fundamentally shifting our focus from the rights of the accused of the rights of the government are overblown and are not reflected in American history.

Every president we have had in times of great peril has curtailed certain peace time protections of civil rights. And every time we exited that war time, we went back to our normal approach.

Washington did it, Adams did it, so did Lincoln, Wilson and FDR. In FACT, what the GWBush administration is doing PALES in comparison to the more extreme actions the rest took.

It is always a very difficult balance to figure out how to keep us safe and how to observe our traditional freedoms and systems. It is especially hard in this day and age where we face things no one has ever had to face (re electronic communications).

Certainly we should keep a wary eye on our freedoms, but to imagine we have suddenly become a fascist nation is idiotic and hyperbolic.

So, I think you are sacrificing our safety to get so worried over the NSA program, ESPECIALLY when that program does NOT target or listen in to ANY individual's communications directly.
Irish said…
We have given up so much already...the government is allowed lists of library books that are taken out, and roving wiretaps abound.

Congree did not even read the PATRIOT Act before they passed it...bad things are happening. The next ten years will determine our country's path, and God help us if the Republicans win again. We'll need it.
Publius said…
j said...

"We have given up so much already...the government is allowed lists of library books that are taken out, and roving wiretaps abound."


Please PROVE that claim!

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