Obama on the Jay Leno show said “We don’t have a domestic spying program.” He said “What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an e-mail address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat.” Obama is wrong and he knows he’s mis-leading the American people when he goes on national tv and makes such devious statements.
Obama is incorrect. The XKeyscore program of the NSA spies on everyone. “A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.” It’s not the only program of the government.
Data collection and observation comprise a step in spying. The NSA does this in secret. Storing the data is another step. This is searching and seizing personal items without constitutional warrant authority. Even if the content is ignored for some time, these procedures are still spying and still warrantless searches. They are powerful tools that can be turned against anyone at any time by the government, which is one reason this spying is wrong. If turned against someone for any number of other concocted crimes that are now on the books, a person’s life can rapidly be destroyed because vital property can be seized and recovery made exceedingly difficult and costly. It is a one-sided power that no government should have. This spying gives the government OPTIONS for future use and enhancement in oppressive directions. This is a strong reason for ending it.
Obama professed surprise when the CIA killed Awlaki’s son, an American citizen. There was no punishment of the persons responsible that has been made public and no statements by Obama that he would find them and hold them accountable. He didn’t do his duty.
Quite commonly one part of the government cannot or does not control another part when it should, or one part does control another part when it shouldn’t. The FBI stonewalls Congress, for example. These failures become all the more dangerous to ordinary Americans when an agency possesses key powers that effectively give it a monopoly that can be levered to gain control over other vital government powers and processes. This is precisely the case with the NSA’s spying. Obama doesn’t bring any of this up because it would diminish trust in his office and in government in general, but it is another danger and another reason why his disingenuous statements cannot be trusted.
3:30 am on August 7, 2013
