The Ruling Class Consensus On Domestic Spying (Must Read)

Library of Law and Liberty ^ | 6/23/2013 | Angelo M. Codevilla

[mojito]

From Barack Obama to Karl Rove, the ruling class is in unison: The NSA’s collection of data on virtually all Americans is essential to preventing you from “being blown to smithereens on your morning commute” – as the Wall Street Journal editorial put it. In the words of General Keith Alexander, director of NSA, this surveillance has “helped to prevent” “dozens of terrorist events.” Later, the tally rose to “over fifty.” Project Constant Informant, which tracks essentially all American phone calls, allows matching the account holder’s identity with each call’s precise location in time and place. Another, PRISM, gives access to all records of email, chat, photos, videos and file transfers from the servers of leading US internet companies. These programs stand between Americans and terrorists. Worries that they will be misused are misplaced or downright kooky.

This chorus’ authority depends on ignorance. Here are the facts.

Since our Intelligence agencies have an unbroken history of crowing about even tiny successes, using finely parsed assertions with zero evidence to impute multiple triumphs to programs publicized by a leak is prima facie evidence of insincerity.

[mojito]

Read the whole thing. It's short.

[stephenjohnbanker]

B U M P

[BCR #226]

My Government spying on me is unacceptable. Any elected official that supports it will not get my support or vote.

If our Government is above the law, so am I. To the NSA reading this... You REALLY want to go down this road? Think damn hard on that because the unintended consequences are going to be epic for you.

[Arm_Bears]

The concept of a “ruling class” is repugnant to all true Americans; so much so that a war was fought over it.

I accept no one as my superior, and damn few as my equal.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I have a feeling a bunch of terrorists planning to detonate a dirty bomb in the middle of Houston or Philadelphia would get minimal attention, as all hands on deck are assigned to look for individuals thinking about planting a bomb in Harry Reid’s shorts or Eric Holder’s BMW.

[cripplecreek]

[wideawake]

This is a reasonable analysis.

By analyzing everything, one can avoid the legal pitfall of "profiling" - the data equivalent of going through great-grandma Florence's carry-on bag so you won't look prejudiced by checking anyone else's.

Of course, the larger legal question is whether or not data you freely give away to a third party (a phone company, an ISP, etc.) is really a "paper or effect" that belongs exclusively to you.

I also wonder how important phone calls are. Many people I know communicate either verbally in person or through text apps without ever using a phone company's text service or voice service.

There are plenty of people out there, I'm sure, who use Snapchat and Skype/Facetime/Tango almost exclusively for communication.

[DoughtyOne]

I can hear it now..., Rove upon hearing of this says, “What do you mean the Republicans are just like the Democrats?”

He really doesn’t know...

[Billthedrill]

The author makes a very good point in that current "collect now, fish later" practices are an artifact of past policy, but they have one additional feature that seems to be getting attention only at the grass-roots level, that is, us: this sort of material on everyone who is on the Internet or uses a cellphone is pure power in and of itself, and Lord Acton was right when he said that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power, absolutely.

This is truly police-state stuff, and its keepers are proving to be greasy, smooth-tongued functionaries who aren't to be trusted with one's car keys, much less one's life. They are in position, they are staying there by virtue of this power, and they are utterly corrupt.

[Zathras]

Under Rome, we were called the Plebeian Class.
No power, no influence, just pay taxes.

[devolve]

042-68-4425

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[BfloGuy]

I accept no one as my superior, and damn few as my equal.

Well said.

[Aglooka]

A lot of the “foiled” terrorist plots involved the FBI finding some want-to-be kid in a chat room and stringing him along until they could claim he was a real terrorist.

In other words some of these “thwarted plots” were manufactured.

[BCR #226]

Dear Leader can kiss my @SS.

[VerySadAmerican]

Mark Levin was sure slamming Rove tonight. It’s about damned time those who supposedly speak for us see the light. Then again, Rush and Hannity et al make a lot of money making us believe they speak for us.

[DoughtyOne]

I think Rush realizes a lot more then we think he does, that he doesn’t speak for a vast portion of us, and that segment is growing all the time.

What he comprehends and can say on the air are probably two different things. If he played it up, the fact that he and we disagree with the government as much as we do, his show could be in jeopardy.

At some point they could term it seditious and shut him down.