continuing...

We won’t go into the details here of what was said, who won what battle, or where this is all likely to end … but we will say that considering the incredibly low worth Americans, this Editor included, ascribe to our Congress and House electives, in this one hearing these office holders did a superb job of asking questions that will hopefully result in protection our civil rights, presumably in the form of more oversight and scrutiny on how these unique, modern day, technological tools and opportunities are being used.

The bottom line: the program(s) Edward Snowden’s disclosures set us all atwitter about work. They do uncover future terrorists and help put an end to their plans.

The other side of the coin is that it is clear that the civil rights of American citizens in general are being toyed with. For as long as there are well meaning, intelligent, moral, principled people like James Cole working the system, then we are probably all right. But if some other head of the Attorney General’s office, or the NSA, or any other government agency along the way turns out to have ulterior motives of the kind J. Edgar Hoover once held, then we are all in deep, deep trouble.

We have searched for digital video copies of the 19 July hearings, in hopes of posting them here for those of you who are curious about what we are talking of. We were unsuccessful in finding them. However, let us please encourage you to watch how this issue unfolds. As former Signal Corps Officers, you are among the few who can understand both sides of this issue: the need for more comprehensive information about how the NSA works being made available to the public, and the need for the NSA to be given its “head” to gather the information needed to chase down the enemy. The fact of the matter is, so few of those us former Signal Corps Officers know have the technological skills to understand not only what is possible, but what abuse these technologies can be put to. And too, it is true, that few understand how this technology impacts our civil rights.

Your unique knowledge of how technology can help on one hand, and hurt on the other, needs to be passed on to the young people in your family who are more enamored with the pretty four-color screen of their Smart Phone than they are with the content they exchange over it. Take the time to warn them that what they post on Facebook and Twitter today may prevent them from getting the job they covet in 5 years. Take the time to tell them that the rules our Congress passes today with respect to circumscribing how much metadata the NSA can collect about them may decide how free their children are.

The ends do not justify the means. In our view, as terrible as it is, an occasional terrorist attack is better to suffer than the usurping of our American civil rights. This is America. We stand for certain principles that must be upheld. While our American principles go back to long before they were published, anyone interested in what they are and how we got them can read in exact terms what the intentions were of those who wrote the laws that protect our freedoms. Encourage your children and grandchildren to do just that.

For example, between October of 1787 and August 1788 the first serious consideration of what the American Constitution was supposed to mean was published in what were then called the Federalist Papers. In simple terms, the Federalist Papers were a series of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, in which they traded jibes and opinions on the impact a unifying constitution would have on the new colony soon to be called America. Essentially, what they were doing was promoting ratification of the then pending United States Constitution by trying to explain the pros and cons of leaving the country the way it was, versus aiming for a higher, more principled type of government… the one they espoused, and the one we have today.

If you want to know if Madison was successful in explaining how he would go about preventing rule by majority faction, or how Hamilton would make the case that there was no need to amend the Constitution by adding a Bill of Rights, or Hamilton go about laying the groundwork for the doctrine of judicial review by federal courts or federal legislation or executive acts, then you should read the Federalist Papers. If, on the other hand, you want to see them in action today, then you should follow what the House and Congress are doing in regards to evaluating the NSA’s actions... as until this event came to the forefront there has been no real challenge to the civil rights of American citizens since the subjugation of black voting rights back in the early 60s.

This matter of what the NSA is monitoring and tracking is a most serious issue. A MOST serious issue, as it affects those we will leave behind when we all pass. As a former Signal Corps Officer, you should be sensitive to the fact that there is no national security exemption to the 4th Amendment. Whether you think that King George’s actions in entering the homes of the people of Boston in 1774 and seizing information that they believed disclosed a colonist’s viewpoint on national matters was right or wrong, you should recognize that what is happening with the NSA today in the 21st century is the equivalent of King George’s actions back then. Americans at that time decided that no King should be able to invade their privacy… and the result is the America we know today. Given the chance to decide how much of your private communication should be allowed to be swept up and held in storage for perpetuity, what is your decision on what the NSA is doing?

If you don’t have an immediate answer, look into it… develop a viewpoint on what is right, what is wrong, what should be allowed, and what should not be allowed. Develop your own viewpoint, and when you have done so, please… spread your views among those you know. Tell your children and grandchildren, because they value your views. Tell your friends. And most importantly, use your power to vote to pressure your government representatives... tell them that if they do not shine more light on what is going on so that you, an American citizen, can understand just what is going on, how it works, and why... then you will do all in your power to elect their competitor. Vote to shine light on this mess.

In the end, please recognize that your views are important. You fought for the right to have them, now, please, use them. As a Signal Corps Officer you were once an active protector of our freedoms. We ask you... continue to be so today. Learn of this most important matter… develop an opinion… and speak of it to all you know.

For details on the NSA's programs, how they work, and how the world found out about them, visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

For a short, easy to read refresher on the U.S. Constitution... something you can read together with your grandchildren, try this Wikipedia webpage.

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