Ever since the Edward Snowden story\u00a0about the NSA spying program\u00a0erupted, there has been a disturbingly eerie silence from progressives. Yes, perfunctory articles have been written, the usual pundits have spoken, and the ACLU has filed a much needed lawsuit, but progressive action groups have scarcely eked out a handful of petitions.\u00a0As we are facing what is arguably one of the greatest historic struggles of our time, there is barely a ripple in the progressive universe.<\/p>\n
Many progressives believe they do not have much to worry about because they \u2018haven\u2019t done anything wrong,\u2019 and \u2018have nothing to hide.\u2019 However, knowledge of the vast surveillance program should raise critical questions about what is actually being done with this information. Heidi Boghosian<\/a>, executive director of the National Lawyer\u2019s Guild, explains that one of the first things the government does is target the individuals who are challenging either its policies or the corporate power structure. Evidence of such targets is mounting. Environmental activists and animal rights activists were labeled the top domestic terrorism threat in 2005.\u00a0The brutal tactics used to suppress the Occupy movement should have given serious pause to activists on all fronts.<\/p>\n Boghosian points out that the spying program also has serious implications for client\/attorney communications. When people know that their conversations are being listened in on, it inevitably alters the way they communicate with their attorney, just as it can stifle what a source reveals to a journalist.<\/p>\n This affront to our right to privacy goes to the heart of what it means to have a democracy. With so much at stake, who among progressive groups is taking action to protect our civil liberties?<\/p>\n During a recent interview on KPFA, Norman Solomon<\/a>, former congressional candidate and co-founder of RootsAction, questioned why MoveOn, the largest online progressive group, has not taken action asking, \u201cWhere are their clarion calls to defend and support Edward Snowden?\u00a0Or for that matter Bradley Manning? They\u2019re not happening\u2026.Can you imagine if these revelations had come out under Bush? What would the MoveOn national blasts have been like then?\u201d<\/p>\n Some of this inaction is undoubtedly because we have a Democratic administration. With Obama in the White House, it is easier for progressives to ignore overreaches of power, including the fact that the current administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than have all other administrations combined. Is the relative apathy we are witnessing an all-too-common deference to the existing power structure?<\/p>\n During the Bush administration, a Pew Research Center poll of public attitudes towards the warrantless-wiretap program found that about twice as many Republicans as Democrats supported the program.\u00a0Now those numbers have largely reversed. It appears that while Democrats did not support an NSA spying program under a Republican administration, it is acceptable under Democratic leadership<\/a>.<\/p>\n