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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices

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To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (294028)7/10/2006 8:15:48 AM
From: combjelly  Read Replies (3) of 1573941
 
"yet when it comes to national security issues the NY Times feels free to put millions at risk."

What on earth are you talking about? The SWIFT program? The terrorists knew they were being monitored. Which is why they switched to cash couriers years ago. What wasn't known is that everyone is being monitored. For years. And the program has almost no oversight. Or are you talking about the wiretapping? The terrorists know that their phone conversations are being monitored. Which is why they switched to stolen cellphones for single use and physical couriers years ago. What wasn't known is that everyone is being monitored. For years. And the program has almost no oversight.

See a pattern here? The only ones not in on the secret are the citizens of the US. An important concept to keep in mind here is a statement that is often attributed to Ben Franklin. "Those who are willing to give up Liberty for temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety". Or at least words to that effect. Why is this important? Because when you give that sort of power to the government or its agencies, you are asking for that power to be abused. A case in point. J. Edgar Hoover was given that sort of investigatory power for the war on organized crime and the war against communism. Who had the largest portfolios? Elenore Roosevelt and Martin Luther King. Trailing a bit further down the list was everyone in Congress. Hoover used this information to make sure that Congress did what he wanted, and what he wanted was often merely to promote the FBI and not to chase criminals. Likewise, giving this sort of power to whatever party in power risks the same. Now true, that likely means the Republicans will always be in power because they were in in when all this was put together. And maybe you are fine with that, I dunno.
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