The Real Problem with NSA Surveillance

Annalee Newitz has a great article on Alternet about the NSA phone eavesdropping episode. She wonders why the polls are finding only 53% of the population who have a problem with their telephone conversations being recorded and stored by the US Government.

Here's what disturbs me: in light of recent revelations that the National Security Agency has been illegally collecting vast databases of information about every single phone call made in the United States since late 2001, only 53 percent of US citizens polled by Newsweek think the government has gone too far in its efforts to stop terrorism.

That's a majority, but not a very large one. And in the same poll, 41 percent said they thought spying on phone calls made to and from everyone in the country was necessary.

This arouses the same sinking feeling I got many years ago when I was a young graduate student at UC Berkeley, grading my very first set of papers. From that sample, and many others in subsequent courses, I learned that 70 percent of college students in an upper-division English course at a top university cannot construct a coherent argument using evidence taken from books they've read.

That's what convinced me that most people, even highly educated ones, go through their lives without ever examining the way rhetoric works, and the way evidence is used (or abused) in its service.

I can't disagree with anything that she writes. However, I was not surprised by the percentages of approval/disapproval. I've long since abandoned any hopes that my fellow citizens will do any work to inform themselves about the compelling issues of the day.

While I'm in full agreement with Ms Newitz about the complacency and/or cluelessness of 47% of the population, I have an even worse fear about this additional "crossing of the line" by the Bush crew. Two of the possible outcomes of this arrogant and illegal tactic include this type of surveillance becoming routine and commonplace, or on the other hand, for us to overreact and pass draconian legislation which hampers legitimate and legal attempts to pursue intelligence.

Whatever else we know, we must acknowledge that Planet Earth is a dangerous and a challenging place. The most powerful nation on earth is a natural target for all sorts of terrorists, loose cannons, opportunists and bad people. No one in their right mind would suggest that intelligence gathering is not vital to our security. However, the very people whose security is at stake should not be the subject of the surveillance or should the act of gathering this surveillance be done in violation of the Constitution or the laws of the United States.

Intelligence gathering must be done with due respect for our laws and our lives as well as those of law-abiding citizens everywhere. What I don't buy is that "if people do get stepped on, they're just collateral damage" in the War on Terra. BS!

The final thought on this topic is that we have no guarantee that the Bushoviks are really gathering intelligence on Al Qaida. Given their track record and their M.O. in many past capers, they may well be using this data to spy on political enemies. These are idealogues, remember, and they have consistently demonstrated in the past that they are willing to desecrate the Constitution, violate the law and otherwise trash our national integrity and whatever mores and other long-standing customs that might get in the way of them advancing their agenda.