- Joined
- Apr 20, 2005
- Messages
- 30,505
- Reaction score
- 14,718
- Political Leaning
- Conservative
It's a tool, just like a gun. Guns in the hands of the govt are also ostensibly there to protect my freedoms.The reality is that these programs, which have been around for decades, are there to protect those freedoms. Carnivore, an FBI sniffer program, was around in the late 1990s..lets not get all worked up now.
But one of the big differences is that it's easier to tell if a gun has been used in a manner which is inconsistent with the law. It's easier to see an buse of position or power if the tool used is a gun. When the tool is access to off-site data, it's much harder to watch the watchmen who're protecting my freedoms.
I don't deny that Uncle Sam screws shyt up all the time, but to extrapolate how one feels about government in general to how the IC operates or why they do what they do is beyond logic.
" I harbor ... concerns that one day a person who is something less than sterling may slip past the [screeners] or be accidentally appointed to a public trust. One day [someone] who puts his own interests and the interests of those who ply him with funds and favors above the best interests of the Americans he serves could find his way into a public trust.
Course, I realize how unlikely it is that such a thing'd occur again in our lifetimes. Yet, it'll occur in some Americans' lifetimes. It may happen in the next hundred months. It may not happen til after the next one hundred years. No matter how long it takes, it's sure to occur. The electorate must actively preserve and acquire all necessary tools to find skullduggery and the appearances of skullduggery. When used properly, these limit the damage potential of hugger mugger scoundrels and reprobates in positions of public trust. The electorate must also actively preserve and acquire all necessary tools to end and correct such perfidy as it is discovered
Course, I realize how unlikely it is that such a thing'd occur again in our lifetimes. Yet, it'll occur in some Americans' lifetimes. It may happen in the next hundred months. It may not happen til after the next one hundred years. No matter how long it takes, it's sure to occur. The electorate must actively preserve and acquire all necessary tools to find skullduggery and the appearances of skullduggery. When used properly, these limit the damage potential of hugger mugger scoundrels and reprobates in positions of public trust. The electorate must also actively preserve and acquire all necessary tools to end and correct such perfidy as it is discovered