- Well we say embarrassing, but they have no shame
- This is every bit as much on Democrat’s watch
- At this point it is really nothing knew, just confirmation. Warnings about this have been out there from people who follow this stuff and are savvy about it.
- The reaction in too much of government is close the leaks, punish the leaker, rather than severely restrict or close the capability.
A read through of the WikiLeaks press release “Vault 7” expose’, or a variety of news reports about the revelations about CIA capabilities, and pondering the implications, will put our commentary in perspective.
Vault 7: CIA Hacking Tools Revealed
McClatchy’s summary of yesterday’s “Vault 7” WikiLeaks release:
CIA turned phones, TVs into spy devices, hid flaws from companies, WikiLeaks says
Commentary:
The deep dark state is necessary in order to maintain big government, or at least those who want to be in control of it. The manipulators are not patriots, although they may claim to be. They are cynical power mongers.
Big government uses fear in order to achieve its hegemony and then uses fear to protect it. To be sure, much of the information big government has, comes to it by willing people, as most of us are too willing to give up a little liberty, a little principle, for what is considered to be safety, security, convenience, efficiency.
In the political circles we have been involved in over the years, most of the discussion has been about balance and the best permutations of legal fire walls to protect privacy. Now that what these dark forces, paid by us, can do has been more widely confirmed and exposed, it resonates more that as long as those capabilities are there, the Bill of Rights is to a large extent a nullity. We did not bargain for this pervasive capability in the war on crime and terrorism.
Now the kindest possibilities as regards our political leadership are that they did not authorize such capabilities and intrusions but didn’t keep tabs on them; or they tried to write adequate law that was ignored by the bastards in these dark agencies who supposedly work for government. I do not condemn the leakers because what has been revealed is that those with discretion are not “soldiers” operating in the heat of battle in grey areas. They are characters who are enthralled with their cleverness and their toys and their power. So far, the current Wikileaks project is “whistle blowing” rather than “leaking.”
The sort of capability described does not produce safety not achievable with other constructs, legal and social. It does produce distrust of government. The FISA Court protections seem inadequate as the dark forces only bring to the court what they want to. Oversight leading to prevention and prosecution is obviously inadequate the leaks prove that and prove the necessity of leaks! Keeping tabs on them is too sophisticated a task. Our “security” capabilities point to a contradictory and dangerous system.
The system takes a large infrastructure of people, salaries, computers and networks, some conveniently required by law, that are too interconnected for our own good. The very existence of much of this capability is properly an issue. It should be “destructured” and restructured.
R Mall
