Paging Dave Morrison and others for whom the operations of the surveillance state are not troubling - heres something from that wild-eyed firebrand conspiracy theorist, Peggy Noonan: Here again is the problem of surveillance professionals operating within a highly technologized surveillance state: If they can do it they will do it. If they are able to take an action they will sooner or later take it, whether or not it’s a good thing, even whether or not it is legal. Defenders of the surveillance state as it is currently organized and constituted blithely argue that laws, rules, traditions and long-held assumptions will control or put a damper on the actions of those with the power to invade the privacy of groups or individuals. They are very trusting people! But they are wrong. You cannot know human nature (or the nature and imperatives of human organizations) and assume people will refrain from using the power at hand to gain advantage. And so we have to approach surveillance state issues not from a framework of it’s OK, we can trust our government but it’s not going to be OK, government agencies give us new reasons each day to doubt their probity, judgment and determination to adhere to the law. We need a strong and ruthless intelligence arm in order to protect the American homeland. We also need to keep the technology, and those with access to it, at bay and NOT trust them to do it on their own.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 20:18:42 +0000
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