The NSA vs. democracy

[Ichingcarpenter]

By its very nature, covert intelligence work creates almost insoluble problems for a democracy.

In a democracy, after all, power is exercised with the consent of the people. If the people don’t know about the powers being exercised, they can’t offer consent. But if they do know about the powers being exercised, those powers, almost by definition, are no longer covert.

You see the problem.


But few seem comforted by the checks and balances wrapped around the NSA’s activities.

A recent Post/ABC News poll shows that 58 percent support the NSA’s intelligence gathering. But 65 percent support Congress holding public hearings on the program. And 48 percent — a plurality — oppose charging Edward Snowden with a crime for revealing the programs

. The American people, in other words, support the NSA’s secret programs — they just don’t like the secret part.

“Here’s the honest conversation we need to have as a country,” says Tommy Vietor, who served as National Security Council spokesman for President Obama. “Human beings are running these programs and collecting the intelligence. Anything they do will be imperfect. But take the metadata. It goes into a black box. You need permission to access it. It’s overseen by Congress and the courts. If none of those checks are enough for you, we have bigger problems, because that goes to a complete lack of trust in institutions.”


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/28/the-nsa-vs-democracy/

[Eric J in MN]

1. All the judges on the FISC are chosen by Chief Justice John Roberts.

What a great system of checks-and-balances (sarcasm).

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. He covers that and congress in the article

I've seen him on the Colbert Report he's pretty good or Stephen would have him as a guest so often over the years.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Yes, I was pointing out important info in the article.

I was criticizing the system of NSA oversight, not Ezra Klein.

[WillyT]

2. K & R !!!