Daniel Ellsberg

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The right of the people

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

If these words no longer apply, we should go through the process of amending them. In an opinion piece published in the Guardian and on his blog, Dan Ellsberg describes the NSA operations Ed Snowden disclosed as an “executive coup” against the US constitution.

A disciplined minority of totalitarians can use the instruments of democratic government to undermine democracy itself. —Hannah Arendt

Edward Snowden: Saving Us from the United Stasi of America
In my estimation, there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden’s release of NSA material – and that definitely includes the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago. Snowden’s whistleblowing gives us the possibility to roll back a key part of what has amounted to an “executive coup” against the US constitution….
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Big Brother Is Watching, Listening & Acting in Secrecy

A few days ago, when the Guardian and the Post first released the information about national “security” administration spying on citizens’ communications, I raised concerns on Facebook:

Be careful whom you connect with on your “smart” phone. Speak with the “wrong” person, and you might want to beware of a drone overhead. Apparently, it is now lawful for the national “security” agency not only to spy on Americans’ communications but also to, without a trial, carry out drone assassination of citizens who communicate with the “wrong” people! How is this even vaguely constitutional? The constitutional scholar in the White House has totally lost his bearings. The “intelligence” agencies appear to be running the country.

Last night, I added a link to Ed Snowden’s on-camera interview along with the following comments:

Following up on the concerns I expressed a couple posts ago, here’s an interview with Ed Snowden, the man who blew the whistle on the secret federal programs, like PRISM, spying on US citizen communications.

“You don’t have to have done something wrong; you simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody, even by a wrong call. Then they can use the system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you’ve ever made, every friend you’ve ever discussed something with, and attack you on that basis, to sort of derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone into the context of a wrongdoer.”

“If you realize that that’s the world you helped create; and it’s gonna get worse, with the next generation ’n’ the next generation, to extend the capabilities of this sort of architecture of oppression, you realize that you might be willing to accept any risk.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-interview-video

Mr. Snowden echoes my main concern: A government that secretly monitors its citizens, secretly amasses information and builds a secret, supposedly “compelling” case against and then restrains, assassinates or executes even a single citizen without conviction at trial is a potential danger to any citizen.

This man has great courage; he will go down as a hero and/or martyr if a nation of free citizens survives this era. Daniel Ellsberg comes to mind, whose release of the Pentagon papers exposed the fraud behind the Vietnam war. I suspect this young man will have a much tougher time; the “intelligence” community has become much more powerful now.

Soon, I’ll figure out how to properly link my Facebook page to these posts. There have already been several perceptive comments there.