Charles Krauthammer Dr. Krauthammer has no problem with the NSA program on its face:
"Thirty-five years ago in United States v. Choate, the courts ruled that the Postal Service may record “mail cover,” i.e., what’s written on the outside of an envelope — the addresses of sender and receiver.
The National Security Agency’s recording of U.S. phone data does basically that with the telephone. It records who is calling whom — the outside of the envelope, as it were."
The programs are necessary and can be effective, but trust in our government is everything.
"The object is not to abolish these vital programs. It’s to fix them. Not exactly easy to do amid the current state of national agitation — provoked largely because such intrusive programs require a measure of trust in government, and this administration has forfeited that trust amid an unfolding series of scandals and a basic problem with truth-telling."
And here is where the trust factor is the foundation:
"Legally this is fairly straightforward. But between intent and execution lies a shadow — the human factor, the possibility of abuse. And because of the scope and power of the NSA, any abuse would have major consequences for civil liberties.
But it is hard to trust you, Mr. Obama.
"Now it turns out that Obama’s government was simultaneously running a massive, secret anti-terror intelligence operation. But if the tide of war is receding, why this vast, ever-expanding NSA dragnet whose only justification is an outside threat — that you assure us is receding?
"Which is it, Mr. President? Tell it straight. We are a nation of grown-ups. We can make choices. Even one it took you four years to admit is not “false.” "
Private Prophetry
...."And so, the government continues to mount the largest and most expensive intelligence gathering operation in history, excluding only those people most likely to be the ones they're looking for.
"Which raises two important questions: why then is the government spying on the rest of us and why, in the bloody aftermath of Ft. Hood, does the government of Barack Hussein Obama still place a higher value on political correctness than saving American lives?"
"Thirty-five years ago in United States v. Choate, the courts ruled that the Postal Service may record “mail cover,” i.e., what’s written on the outside of an envelope — the addresses of sender and receiver.
The National Security Agency’s recording of U.S. phone data does basically that with the telephone. It records who is calling whom — the outside of the envelope, as it were."
The programs are necessary and can be effective, but trust in our government is everything.
"The object is not to abolish these vital programs. It’s to fix them. Not exactly easy to do amid the current state of national agitation — provoked largely because such intrusive programs require a measure of trust in government, and this administration has forfeited that trust amid an unfolding series of scandals and a basic problem with truth-telling."
"Legally this is fairly straightforward. But between intent and execution lies a shadow — the human factor, the possibility of abuse. And because of the scope and power of the NSA, any abuse would have major consequences for civil liberties.
But it is hard to trust you, Mr. Obama.
"Now it turns out that Obama’s government was simultaneously running a massive, secret anti-terror intelligence operation. But if the tide of war is receding, why this vast, ever-expanding NSA dragnet whose only justification is an outside threat — that you assure us is receding?
"Which is it, Mr. President? Tell it straight. We are a nation of grown-ups. We can make choices. Even one it took you four years to admit is not “false.” "
Private Prophetry
"Which raises two important questions: why then is the government spying on the rest of us and why, in the bloody aftermath of Ft. Hood, does the government of Barack Hussein Obama still place a higher value on political correctness than saving American lives?"
