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| The Huffington Post |
NEWS BROKE THIS week that the National Security Agency is collecting data on millions of Americans without their knowledge or consent, concerning phone records, internet use and credit card transactions.
This is to say nothing of the additional news that the government and its contractors have been blowing millions of taxpayer dollars on lavish conferences, silly videos and adult playgrounds. (It makes one wonder where all the angry protests and demonstrations are, since people got a lot more fired up about banking scandals and Second Amendment rights.)
In the interest of journalistic ethics and fairness, I am strongly discouraged from publicly expressing opinions about the merits of this program. However, I can say you owe it to yourself to read as much as possible on this very important story.
Bearing all that in mind, here are what I believe are some of the more important statements to emerge so far.
"Everyone should just calm down and understand this isn't anything that is brand new.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada - June 6
"When law-abiding Americans call their friends, who they call, when they call, and where they call from is private information. Collecting this data about every single phone call that every American makes every day would be a massive invasion of Americans' privacy." Sen. Ron Widen, D-Oregon - June 6
“Information collected under this program is among the most important and valuable foreign intelligence information we collect, and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats. The unauthorized disclosure of information about this important and entirely legal program is reprehensible and risks important protections for the security of Americans.” James R. Clapper, U.S. Director of National Intelligence - June 6
"Is it just me, or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous?" Al Gore, former Vice President and U.S. Senator, D-Tennessee - June 5
"Radical Islam is on the rise throughout the region. Homegrown terrorism is one of my biggest concerns. It is happening in our own backyard, and I am glad that NSA is trying to find out what terrorists are up to overseas and inside the country." Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina - June 6
"Let me just emphasize, this is nothing particularly new. This has been going on for seven years under the auspices of the FISA authority and every member of the United States Senate has been advised of this." Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia - June 6
"I know that people are trying to get to us. This is the reason why we keep TSA doing what it’s doing. This is the reason why the FBI now has 10,000 people doing intelligence on counterterrorism. This is the reason for the National Counterterrorism Center that’s been set up in the time we’ve been active. It’s to ferret this out before it happens. It’s called protecting America." Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California - June 6
"Our economy doesn't work; foreign policy's in shambles; and now we have no privacy because people say they want to be safe. Governments cannot make us safe. To pretend they can make us safe -- they have to destroy personal liberty." Dr. Ron Paul, former U.S. Congressman, R-Texas - June 6, on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360"
"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency." President Barack Obama, January 21, 2009
