As a pro-defense conservative, I have my serious doubts about the legitimacy of NSA’s PRISM and related programs which gather a massive amount of private information on all Americans and clearly (in my view) violates the Constitution.
We are told that there have been no reported abuses of these programs. Who would know whether they have been illegally targeted? It’s a secret program, after all. If Snowden had not leaked some of the information he fraudulently obtained, we would to this day have no knowledge of his crimes.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights were expressly designed to limit and diffuse the power of the federal government through enumerated powers, various checks and balances, and clearly defined civil rights protections for the citizenry.
The argument that the government should intercept and maintain telephone and email communications on all Americans because telephone companies and Internet providers already possess that information is farcical. It is part of the job of those companies to maintain certain records for their customers, as required by law.
Overlooked in all the dissembling on this critical privacy issue is that the private sector does not possess the coercive power of government. Moreover, those businesses actually act as a buffer between individuals and the government.
One primary reason for requiring the government to issue individual (and not blanket) warrants in specific instances is to keep the government from abusing its power. That was the Framers primary concern and it should be ours as well.
from Daniel Borchers at www.CoulterWatch.com
here is a link to Dan's website:
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