Republican establishment “marshmallow” on critical rights
In reading this Daily Beast article: Tea Party on NSA Snooping: We Told You Not to Trust Big Government! one finds the above description of Speaker Boehner apt .
Relevant to that discussion of government’s Fourth Amendment violations, we would add a couple of observations:
1) Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and BBOO (Big Buddy Of Obama) once provided us government “subjects” his version of assurance that we should have no concerns about our privacy: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” That comment is referenced here along with some other gems in a lament regarding the loss of such good copy “The tech media is mourning the end of an era, because of Schmidt’s uncanny ability to provide some of the most memorable, bizarre, and scary quotes from a sitting corporate chief.”
Sadly, there are many Americans who would agree with Schmidt’s remark. You will occasionally hear someone say that they aren’t worried about the government listening in on their telephone conversations or even reading their emails: “They’d be bored. I’m not breaking any laws”, is the kind of flippant comment I have heard more than once.
Yet we have just seen a chilling example of how a government led by a wannabe dictator will use information gained by unconstitutional surveillance of its citizens. Is legally participating in the political process something that “you shouldn’t be doing in the first place”? We have just seen the consequences of such activity when it doesn’t meet with the approval of a corrupt administration.
If you are one of those who doesn’t care if the government listens in on your conversations, let me give you something to think about.
Because you are reading this you may have become a person on a list of potential targets for Obama administration”attention”. What does that mean? First, the “good news”: the target list is so large that the government may not get around to you, what with so many far “bigger fish to fry”.
Now the “bad news”. Suppose this administration’s supporters, such as those activists involved with some “progressive” organization here in the Quad Cities perceives a “dangerous” increase in community interest in the conservative elements here and of other critics of the Obama administration. With their connections to all kinds of administration networks, they may call attention to this development.
All effective oppressive regimes understand that to control a populace, one doesn’t have to round up every member of the dissident movement. You need only choose a few to provide an “example” of the wrath that your criticism can bring down on you.
We’ve seen how it works with the IRS example. As an individual of wealth or of modest means, one knows the devastation a visit by the IRS can wreak. Add to that, if you own a small business, maybe a visit by the EPA to “insure” that you’re not adding to global warming with the activities of your business can have truly awful economic consequences, even though there may be, as our president likes to say, “no there there”. DLH
