A government of secrecy and fear -- why Edward Snowden deserves the thanks of every f

[Team Sergeant]

A government of secrecy and fear -- why Edward Snowden deserves the thanks of every freedom-loving American
By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano/
Published October 24, 2013/
FoxNews.com

Every American who values the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, every American who enjoys the right to be different and the right to be left alone, and every American who believes that the government works for us and we don’t work for the government should thank Edward Snowden for his courageous and heroic revelations of the National Security Agency’s gargantuan spying operations.

Without Snowden’s revelations, we would be ignorant children to a paternalistic government and completely in the dark about what the government sees of us and knows about us. And we would not know that it has stolen our freedoms.

When I saw Snowden’s initial revelation -- a two-page order signed by a federal judge on the FISA court -- I knew immediately that Snowden had a copy of a genuine top-secret document that even the judge who signed it did not have.

The NSA reluctantly acknowledged that the document was genuine and claimed that all its snooping on the 113,000,000 Verizon customers covered by that order was lawful because it had been authorized by that federal judge. The NSA also claims that as a result of its spying, it has kept us safe.

I reject the argument that the government is empowered to take our liberties -- here, the right to privacy -- by majority vote or by secret fiat as part of an involuntary collective bargain that it needs to monitor us in private in order to protect us in public.

The government’s job is to keep us free and safe. If it keeps us safe but not free, it is not doing its job.

Since the revelations about Verizon, we have learned that the NSA has captured and stored in its Utah computers the emails, texts, telephone conversations, utility bills, bank statements, credit card statements and digital phone books of everyone in America for the past two and a half years.

It also has captured hundreds of millions of phone records in Brazil, France, Germany and Mexico -- all U.S. allies -- and it has shared much of the seized raw American data with intelligence agencies in Great Britain and Israel.

Its agents have spied on their girlfriends and boyfriends literally thousands of times, and they have combed the collected raw data and selectively revealed some of it to law enforcement. All of this directly contradicts the Constitution.

And, if all of this is not enough to induce one to realize that the Orwellian future is here thanks to the secret governments of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Snowden also revealed that the NSA can hack into anyone’s mobile phone, even when it is turned off, and use each phone as a listening device and as a GPS to track whoever possesses it.

When Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA, was confronted with this litany of unlawful and unconstitutional behavior, he replied by claiming that his spies have saved the U.S. from 54 terrorist plots.

He pleaded with lawmakers not to strip him of the power to spy or of the billions they have given him to spend on spying, lest another 9/11 plot befall us.

Many Americans were willing to make this trade: spy on 330,000,000 Americans in order to stop 54 plots. But the government lacks the moral and constitutional power to compel this trade, because the right to privacy is a personal, individual and inalienable right, and so it cannot lawfully be taken away by majority vote (which never happened) or by secret fiat (which did happen).

The government also lacks the authority to spy without legal constraint on anyone it wishes, because that violates the Constitution and fundamentally changes our open and free society.

All-hearing ears and all-seeing eyes and unconstrained power exercised in secret are a toxic mix destined to destroy personal freedom.

Now we know that Alexander has lied yet again to a congressional committee. He recently acknowledged that the number of plots foiled is not the stated-under-oath 54, but is either two or three.

He won’t say which two or three or how spying on every American was the only lawful or constitutional way to uncover these plots.

He also won’t say why he originally said 54, instead of two or three; but he did say last week that he will retire next spring.

This is maddening.

The government breaks the law it has been hired to enforce and violates the Constitution its agents have sworn to uphold; it gets caught and lies about it; and no one in government is punished or changes his behavior.

Then we realize that the so-called court that authorized all of this is not a court at all. Federal judges may only exercise the judicial function when they are addressing cases or controversies; and their opinions only have the force of law when they emanate from that context.

But when federal judges serve an essentially clerical function, they are not serving as judges, their opinions are self-serving and legally useless, and their apparent imprimatur upon spying gives it no moral or legal legitimacy.

All of this -- which is essentially undisputed -- leads me to the question: Where is the outrage?

I think the government has succeeded in so terrifying us at the prospect of another 9/11 that we are afraid to be outraged at the government when it claims to be protecting us, no matter what it does.

C.S. Lewis once remarked that the greatest trick the devil has pulled off is convincing us that he does not exist. The government’s greatest trick has been persuading us to surrender our freedoms.

Will we ever get them back? The answer to that depends upon the fidelity to freedom of those in whose hands we have reposed the Constitution for safekeeping.

At present, those hands are soiled with the filth of totalitarianism and preoccupied with the grasp of power. And they seem to be getting dirtier and their grip tighter every day.

Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, is the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel. Judge Napolitano has written seven books on the U.S. Constitution. His latest is “Theodore and Woodrow: How Two American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom.”

[Team Sergeant]

Remember, I never condemned Snowden's actions, just the opposite I applauded them and I still do.

Giving the US Government a blank check to spy on Americans is more than stupid, especially when there's a corrupt administration in the White House. You know the left-wing socialists that use the IRS as a weapon and you actually don't think the current administration is not reading all the emails, cell phone conversations etc it wants from the NSA?

Time to wake up before we give the country over to the new Hitler.

[mark46th]

Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande agree with you...

[ddoering]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Remember, I never condemned Snowden's actions, just the opposite I applauded them and I still do.

Giving the US Government a blank check to spy on Americans is more than stupid, especially when there's a corrupt administration in the White House. You know the left-wing socialists that use the IRS as a weapon and you actually don't think the current administration is not reading all the emails, cell phone conversations etc it wants from the NSA?

Time to wake up before we give the country over to the new Hitler.

Ditto here.

[BryanK]

"The government’s job is to keep us free and safe. If it keeps us safe but not free, it is not doing its job."

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Remember, I never condemned Snowden's actions, just the opposite I applauded them and I still do.

Giving the US Government a blank check to spy on Americans is more than stupid, especially when there's a corrupt administration in the White House. You know the left-wing socialists that use the IRS as a weapon and you actually don't think the current administration is not reading all the emails, cell phone conversations etc it wants from the NSA?

Time to wake up before we give the country over to the new Hitler.

Precisely.

[FlagDayNCO]

This is not just limited to the current administration. This is getting anchored into the way the National Government will conduct itself. It will continue to get worse, especially if Hillary gets elected in 2016. Do realize that the entire Democrat Party's line of thinking and conduct is what we see.

Never forget the number of Republicans that voted to support this activity.

The flame of Socialism is being fed gasoline.

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Remember, I never condemned Snowden's actions, just the opposite I applauded them and I still do.

Although the NSA/IRS/DOJ are clear over-reach of government authority and I applaud many of the "whistleblowers" and respect immensely the personal risk that they have taken on behalf of all of us, I have a slightly different view of Snowden (or "Little Eddie" as I not so respectfully refer to him).

First, I question his motivations at the outset and wonder how a low level analyst with probationary status could assemble so much and so highly classified information in such a short time without "outside" coaching and premeditation.

But setting that question aside, I have a big problem with how he handled this after the fact. My reasoning follows:

If I am going to commit an act that could be viewed as treasonous by some and if I truly believe that it is in the best interest of the Nation for me to do so, regardless of the personal risk, I simply stand my ground and accept the consequences of my actions - I do not run away to my Country's adversaries (enemies) and seek asylum.

Had Little Eddie, sought protection from within - going to Senator Rand Paul or other sympathetic persons of power and influence for instance to make his disclosures, my view would be very different. Not Assange for godsake!

I would court and rely on powerful allies within to help me with my legal defense and make my disclosures in a court of law. I would make certain that what I had would become public if it were quashed as evidence in court and I would do this through responsible members of the press only as a last resort. I would make certain that a select committee of the Senate saw what I knew. And, last but not least, I would be willing to serve time for what I did if the judicial system saw fit to convict me.

If Little Eddie had done these things, then I would stand with him and he would be Edward Snowden - a true patriot in my mind. That would be an honorable and responsible course of action.

But he did none of these things. So he is Little Eddie- sniveling traitor!

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by BryanK

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

Fixed it for ya!

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

Had Little Eddie, sought protection from within - going to Senator Rand Paul or other sympathetic persons of power and influence for instance to make his disclosures

I would like to agree with you, however in this day and age the chances you would get sold out for personal gain by those sympathetic would probably top 80%...in which case your home would be raided and child pron would be found on your hardrive or you would have an 'accident' on the way to the store.

[cbtengr]

Were the government to come out tomorrow and announce that they were no longer going to spy on private citizens or foreign governments that were considered friendly to our country, who would believe them? This did not start with the current occupant, but that the info gathered is being used to target his detractors should concern us all. Forty years ago the MSM was all over President Nixon and his enemies list but not so with the Anointed One, if we could only get them on our side.

[tonyz]

What we know is that our government spies on its own citizens without cause or warrant.

Big Government, our government, has significantly exceeded its authority.

Our government engages in unconstitutional, fraudulent and possibly criminal actions with regard to its own law abiding citizens.

Our government collects substantial and significant electronic data on each of us.

That data can be used, misused, edited, leaked, spun, used to destroy political opposition etc., etc., all this unauthorized surveillance on law abiding US civilians arguably has a chilling effect on free speech...certainly dissent...etc., etc.,

IMO, that is the story and cause for real concern.

We now live in an Orwellian state where we depend on the credibility of our government bureaucrats not to disclose our private information...we see in ES just how well that has worked out.

Who watches the watchers ?

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by Broadsword2004

One problem with what Snowden did though from what I have heard is that he basically gave information to the Russians and Chinese that explains exactly how the U.S. operates regarding many of our very classified operations. If he really threatened national security big-time, I don't know if I hold a positive view of him or not.

He also let the American public know what's really going on in the NSA and that they are in fact spying on Americans, that in itself is a crime.

Please tell me for all the "billions" spent on the NSA each year how do they justify spying on Americans in America?

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Please tell me for all the "billions" spent on the NSA each year how do they justify spying on Americans in America?

And that is the real issue, IMO. Having the technological capability to do that seemed obvious once we learned of the Utah facility and its capabilities. (Frankly, Little Eddie's escapade was moot IMO) Having the capability/technology is not in and of itself a problem. The use, misuse in this case, is the issue and as I see it, this is an organizational and management issue.

Hypothesis: Having the NSA under the executive branch is just too much of a temptation for abuse by any administration. Just imagine if Nixon had that capability.

Perhaps one solution might be to put the NSA under the Judicial Branch? What do all of you think?

This is not an issue that will go away. Technology is advancing at such a rate that it will control us unless we learn how to control its use.

[Max_Tab]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

And that is the real issue, IMO. Having the technological capability to do that seemed obvious once we learned of the Utah facility and its capabilities. (Frankly, Little Eddie's escapade was moot IMO) Having the capability/technology is not in and of itself a problem. The use, misuse in this case, is the issue and as I see it, this is an organizational and management issue.

Hypothesis: Having the NSA under the executive branch is just too much of a temptation for abuse by any administration. Just imagine if Nixon had that capability.

Perhaps one solution might be to put the NSA under the Judicial Branch? What do all of you think?

This is not an issue that will go away. Technology is advancing at such a rate that it will control us unless we learn how to control its use.

Under direct supervision of Eric Holder?