The NSA’s Line In the Sand

No Honor Among Thieves

The American government has been turned upside down as we honor criminality and condemn valiant whistleblowers. Representative Mike Rogers stated that he sees these illegal and unconstitutional surveillance operations as necessary and he equates whistleblowing with being a traitor.

Dianne Feinstein, Ms. insider trader herself, decries the criticism of the establishment of the police state as she stated that this is for the good of the American people. If there is someone that should be watched it is Dianne Feinstein. This woman and her husband have engaged in every conflict of interest known to politics. It is estimated that her ill-gotten gains total about $200 million dollars.This is who the NSA should be watching. So as Feinstein tells America to shut up and submit, perhaps she should be invited to stand at the front of that line.

Didn’t these “public servants” raise their right hand and promise to defend the Constitution and the Republic from enemies both foreign and domestic?

Keith Alexander, Mike Rogers, Dianne Feinstein and the NSA are enemies of the Republic and Congress needs to start doing its job and treating these criminals accordingly. 

Keith Alexander testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) that the NSA “takes great pride in protecting this nation and our civil liberties and privacy” and that the agency is protecting Americans by spying on them.

Protecting Americans by spying on them is like making war to preserve the peace or making love to preserve virginity. Who does Alexander think he’s kidding with these twisted illogical comments?

General Keith Alexander told SIC that, “Great harm has already been done … our (national) security has been jeopardized.” Alexander defended the NSA’s surveillance programs as having prevented “dozens of terrorists events.” However, Alexander declined to identify even a single event in which this was the case.

Alexander further stated that he “would rather take a public beating, and let people think I’m hiding something, than jeopardize the security of this country.” This is a dramatic comment in which it surprises me that more attention has not been given to this statement. First and foremost, national security does not give this government the legal license to violate the Constitution. The only legal means to violate the Constitution is through a declaration of martial law which has not yet happened. 

The other issue in question has to do with how much should we sacrifice in the name of national security? If the first casualty in the war on terror is the Constitution, then we have already lost the war. And as I demonstrated in my last article, the establishment of the police state surveillance grid began in advance of 9/11. Therefore, the war on terror is a smokescreen designed to obliterate the liberties of the American people.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D) held up his Verizon phone and asked Alexander, “What authorized investigation gave you the grounds for acquiring my cellphone data.” In the most telling comment, Senator Barbara Mikulski stated that “Many of us are concerned about what is the access to people and businesses’ information. There are those, because of the Snowden revelation, who wonder about the government’s access to that information.” And with Congress’ admission that they insider trade (e.g. Feinstein, Pelosi), one has to wonder if the NSA would provide more useful investment information to the insider traders serving in Congress.

Although Merkley and Mikulski expressed outrage, it will amount to nothing more than Hollywood theater. Nothing is going to change as we descend further into the abyss of tyranny.

Do you remember when as a child you used to justify your actions to your mother by stating that “everyone else is doing it.” Apparently, Alexander’s mother did not finish her job as his mother because Alexander has not outgrown the “everyone else” is doing it excuse. When pressed by the SIC, Alexander attempted to justify the NSA’s actions by stating that the FBI, the CIA and CYBERCOM were also involved in these kinds of actions. 

Amazingly, Alexander further excused his actions to SIC by stating, “We aren’t trying to hide it.” Wait a minute, didn’t he say earlier in his testimony that if there were not absolute secrecy about these programs that Americans were going to die? Alexander went on to say that “We’re trying to protect America. So we need your help in doing that.” I see, the government serves the people, by spying on the people.

If these are the best excuses that the NSA can muster to defend its heinous actions, then any reasonable person would have to suspect other motives.

To what end does a government use Smart Meters to spy on each household along with using Smart appliances to the same end? Why does the NSA require Microsoft and Apple to build in backdoor entries to every computer in order to monitor destination sites? Why does the NSA track everyone’s whereabouts through every cell phone signal pings? Why did the NSA create Facebook to collect data on tens of millions of people? Why did the NSA invent Google to monitor every web search, read every email, fax and listen to every phone call as well as put facial recognition cameras at every major intersection? Is this just one great big mental masturbation exercise? Or, is something going to be done with this massive data mining? If so, what?

Do you remember from your history books when Senator Joe McCarthy kicked off the “Red Scare” and the subsequent persecution which followed?

I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department. — Senator Joseph McCarthy

Today’s modern day version of the Red Scare looks something like the following:

I have here in my hand a list of 100 million Americans—a list of names that we obtained through illegal surveillance and names that have identified these people as members of such dissident groups as Libertarians, gun owners, Pro-Constitutionalists, former Ron Paul supporters and veterans and who nevertheless are still working and voting and attempting to shape policy in the USA. They must be identified and stopped

NSA Director Keith Alexander

There is one major difference between McCarthy and Alexander. Joe McCarthy did not have at his disposal the NDAA, the Patriot Acts, Executive Order 13603 and over 800 FEMA camps. Be afraid America, very afraid. 

Alexander made it clear to the SIC that these practices will not cease under any circumstances. Whatever agenda is being served, it is targeting the American people and it is clearly being done for a specific set of reasons. We should not be wasting time whether or not the NSA’s actions are illegal. They are. We shouldn’t be hand wringing trying to decide if the NSA is being run by criminals. It is. However, in the interest of self-preservation, it might behoove us to move the question of motivation behind the NSA’s tyrannical actions to center stage.