Liberal radio and TV stations
(the only ones I listen to) are constantly facing the conundrum of whether to
support or condemn NSA wire tapping, and exactly where they stand on ‘whistle
blowers.’
We no longer face the problem
of a threat from hostile nations; but our real threat comes from small,
scattered, religiously based groups abroad, wing-nut conspiracy groups or the
lone nut-case within our own country.
It seems logical that the department
of our government sworn to protect and defend would want to gather as much
information on these radical, potential terrorist as possible. At one time this was done by planting imbeds
in the suspected organizations; but today, in our new world of super
communication networking we can more effectively monitor these groups from the
outside.
Today we can vacuum
information from every type of communication system in the world and narrow our
search through massive computer programs designed to key off on certain words,
numbers or phrases.
No longer do we launch our
army and Navy to confront rogue nation; now we launch deadly accurate drones to
strike individuals that pose a real threat to our country.
The new world order demands
we update our Constitution to be relevant to our new time and place. Amendments like our Right to Bear Arms and
our Right to Privacy need to be reviewed and updated to reflect the enormous
changes and dangers of the 21st century.
Unfortunately, our Congress is not up
to the task, so we are stuck with a document, which like the Bible, reflects
the norms of a different time.
Recently, the news media
broke the story that al Qaeda leader al-Zawahri and the leader of the Yemen based wing of al Qaeda planned an attack,
possibly on our US Embassies in the Arabian Peninsula . This has resulted in embassies throughout
the region closing, and a news media frenzy to cover the story; along with a
renewed discussion on the legality of NSA ease dropping.
The right of the Fourth
Estate to release news is again, a right guaranteed in the Constitution.
The American people have the
right to know that there is a terror threat eminent in an area of the world and
how our government is responding to that threat. The problem is that when the media released how we found out about that threat,
they inadvertently notified al Qaeda that the communication mode they were
using was being monitored and no longer secure, which compromised NSA’s ability
to collect further critical communication on that particular link.
It is a new world. If we are to remain safe from nuclear
suitcase bombs, suicide bombers, nut-case fringe groups, and religious fanatics
we need to have the conversation about our realistic expectation of privacy and
government overreach.
 |
| "Good God, Ramon - I think you've nearly cracked it. " |
Of course, none of this is
possible with the Republican-Tea Party Congress that spends its time trying to
dismantle the Affordable Care Act, with the single goal of nullifying President
Obama’s legacy.
Have a good day
the Ol’Buzzard
OB,
ReplyDeleteGood! Damned good...
Sarge
I find it amusing that so many folks have their panties in a twist over the NSA and their monitoring of communications here and abroad. It is not as if they just began doing this. They are just better at it now with all the new technology at their disposal. I would expect any government to monitor it's citizens while at the same time keeping an eye on events and people outside their borders. The first rule of any government is self preservation. Anyone who thinks the US government is or has been somehow above this and been noble and ethical is fooling themselves.
ReplyDeleteI could give a shit if the NSA watches me. That they are wasting their time is on them. I won't, nor have I ever changed my lifestyle because of some fear of "Big Brother".
BTW, what Sarge wrote - ditto - excellent post.
We no longer face the problem of a threat from hostile nations; but our real threat comes from small, scattered, religiously based groups abroad, wing-nut conspiracy groups or the lone nut-case within our own country.
ReplyDeleteNOPE. WRONG. Winston Smith might have something to say about the real threat you face. It is the unelected responsible to no one Executive that runs and will continue to run the your government and eventually the rest of us if they have their way.