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J. D. Heyes<\/strong> I\u2019ve never been much of a fan of the USA Patriot Act. I thought it was passed too hastily in the wake of the 9\/11 attacks without much real debate or consideration among Congress and their voting constituents. I thought it created a bureaucracy (The\u00a0Department of Homeland Security<\/em>) that would become far too large and far too powerful (it has). I thought its provisions were onerous (they are) and extremely subjective and, therefore, lent themselves to abuse (as has happened). Worse, I knew once this massive new piece of legislation was signed into law the huge new security bureaucracy it created would forever haunt and torment Americans. That day, too, has come.<\/p>\n One person who agrees is Glenn Greenwald, the U.S. bureau chief for Britain\u2019s\u00a0The Guardian<\/em> newspaper, which broke the NSA spy scandal story in early June after being contacted by agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.<\/p>\n Say what you will about his overall political bent \u2014 I\u2019m not so much a fan of it \u2014 he at least has been consistent in his criticism of the Patriot Act and U.S. government spying in general. He didn\u2019t much care for it when it was occurring during President George W. Bush\u2019s tenure and he is just as upset about it now that it is occurring \u2014 albeit on a much larger scale \u2014 now, under Obama.<\/p>\n Looking the other way, in the name of rank partisanship<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s more than you can say for most of the rest of the mainstream media, and their ideological soul mates in the Democrat Party, and that is something Greenwald is taking note of among his traditionally left-wing media pals, according to\u00a0Breitbart News<\/em>\u2018 John Nolte.<\/p>\n Per the\u00a0Business Insider<\/em>, which interviewed Greenwald after his NSA story broke:<\/p>\n Greenwald told <\/em>Business Insider late Tuesday night that he thinks some left-leaning members of the media \u2014 such as <\/em>Time magazine\u2019s Joe Klein and <\/em>The New Yorker\u2018s Jeffrey Toobin \u2014 have shifted stances on surveillance and civil liberties for \u201cprinciple-free, hackish, and opportunistic\u201d reasons.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not surprised,\u201d Greenwald said in an email. \u201cI\u2019ve been amazed and disappointed for a long time at how the most slavishly partisan media\u00a0Democrats<\/a> who pretended to care so much about these issues when doing so helped undermine George Bush are now the loudest apologists and cheerleaders for these very same policies. \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cTo call them principle-free, hackish, and opportunistic is to be overly generous.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Ouch.<\/p>\n As Nolte points out, Greenwald is what you would call a traditional left-wing, pro-civil rights liberal, not someone who is wedded to partisanship and who would defend his or her party\u2019s president if they were caught on camera robbing a bank at gunpoint.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd while the media\u2019s mercenary double standard is most apparent with these surveillance scandals, we see it in almost everything else-including Obama\u2019s failed economy, the Benghazi scandal, and the media forgiving\/ignoring\/downplaying an administration guilty of lying to them on a regular basis,\u201d writes Nolte. \u201cGreenwald is wrong about almost everything, but unlike his colleagues, he is at least no lapdog.\u201d<\/p>\n Bipartisan approval for NSA<\/strong><\/p>\n By the same token, we see a very\u00a0bipartisan<\/em> coalition of lawmakers \u2014 Democrats and Republicans \u2014 who are defending NSA snooping in general as somehow legal and acceptable, despite the Constitution\u2019s very plain, simple and easy-to-understand prohibitions against warrantless searching and seizing of Americans\u2019 private data. It\u2019s easy to understand why \u2014 since both Bush and\u00a0Obama<\/a> are guilty. But what lawmakers\u00a0should<\/em> be defending is the Constitution, not their own political power.<\/p>\n One lawmaker who is\u00a0not<\/em> happy about the NSA\u2019s activities is Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.<\/p>\n \u201cThe irony is that people voted for President Obama hoping for something different,\u201d Paul has said. \u201cThat\u2019s why a lot of people I think are disappointed in the president. They\u2019re disappointed in him targeting reporters. There\u2019s just a lot to be disappointed about.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul has vowed to challenge the NSA\u2019s domestic spying, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. http:\/\/www.breitbart.com<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/townhall.com<\/a><\/p>\n <!– <\/p>\n –><\/p>\n This article was posted: Sunday, June 16, 2013 at 7:22 am<\/p>\n Tags: big brother<\/a>, domestic spying<\/a><\/p>\n
Natural News<\/a>
June 16, 2013<\/p>\n\n
Sources for this article include:<\/strong><\/p>\n
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