The NSA story isn't about Obama, Greenwald, nor Snowden
it is about, the extent to which we trust, and should trust, every single employee in the NSA and its various civilian contractors. We keep hearing about just how awful a person Snowden is. We hear he is a spy, he is an egomaniac, he modeled and thus is an egomaniac, he has a pole dancing wife, no he actually may be gay, etc., etc. To point out the obvious, it wasn't the NSA's critics which gave him access to pages of secrets after employing him for a matter of months. To the extent that Snowden is horrible, that falls to no small extent upon those who chose him as a keeper of our secrets.
I actually think Obama doesn't want to infringe upon our freedom, just like I think Kennedy didn't want to spy on MLK. But the FBI, under Kennedy, did exactly that, because the FBI was out of control. I have to say, the NSA appears to be perilously close to being out of control. They have god alone knows how many private employees who have access to god alone knows how much information. They say that they are obeying the law, which they have interpreted in secret, but apparently don't know just what information Mr. Snowden has. If they don't know what Snowden has, then just how do they know their employees are obeying the law? Also, if they have interpreted the law in secret, then just how do we know what they are obeying?
Interpretation matters. Once when I was a teenager, I was told not to stay out all night but not given a direct curfew time. I came in at 3am. My mom was not happy to say the least, but I told her since the sun hadn't risen yet, I hadn't stayed out all night so she shouldn't be upset. Needless to say, I was grounded. Just what liberties are being taken with interpretation of the law in secret? We have already caught Mr. Clapper, who runs the NSA, in a direct lie.
I end this with a story. My sister is going through a horrible divorce and post divorce with the nephew of a police detective. The amount of crap that has been pulled by his strings is a sight to see. But I can only imagine what this divorce would be like if his uncle had worked for the NSA. People with great power often, not always, but often abuse it. Sometimes to help family as my brother in law's uncle has done, sometimes to protect the nation, as Hoover did, but they always feel justified. It isn't about Obama, its about the next Hoover.
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