What Does it mean to be The Commander and Chief?

It means you do not have to make Requests.

Requests?  Requests?  We don’t need to make no stinking Requests!

It is rumored that President Obama is about to take the podium and Request the NSA no longer store the “meta data” it has collected from Innocent American Citizens through its’ Domestic Spying program. That is to say, he will not be Requesting the end to Domestic Spying… he’ll just be Requesting the material collected be stored for a shorter period to time and or by someone else.

Before I say “Why Bother?”… take a moment and think about that. I’ll wait.

Ready? “Why Bother?”

Why Bother taking even a single second to address the American People with such a statement of DESIRE?

When you are the Commander and Chief you DO NOT NEED TO REQUEST THINGS BE DONE WHICH ARE UNDER YOUR DIRECT CONTROL. Sorry, didn’t mean to yell.  Seriously, I apologize.

In other words, President Obama does not need to Request:
Gitmo be closed.
Withdraw of Troops from the Middle East.
People be Fired for not Securing our Diplomats abroad.
IRS officials be Prosecuted for political targeting of individuals and organizations.
The Prosecutions of Voter Intimidation cases as well as Voter Fraud.
The Termination of those involved in Up-Arming Mexican Drug Cartels.
And…
Certainly not the end of the largest Domestic Spying Program in the History of the World.

Is this just more Propaganda designed to make the American People think he’s doing something about an issue he doesn’t poll well on?

I’ve referred to Machiavelli before… and I’ll do so again. Machiavelli told his Prince that he must tell his population whatever they wanted to hear while doing whatever he needed, or wanted to, in order to stay in power. (Yes, I’m paraphrasing… so makeaneffort to read any translation of The Prince. Then Discourses on Livy. Then Machiavelli in Hell. That’s a start. Then get back to me. I recommend it.)

This reminds me of Clinton.

Say a lot, do nothing.

Oddly enough, the President doesn’t seem to be making Requests when it comes to shoving Obamacare down our throats…

(As a note… the NSA’s signal capture and meta data scanning utilizing computational linguistic software has been going on WELL before 9/11.)

(Live Update:  President Obama states unequivocally that “elected officials have a responsibility to the Constitution”.  While I’m not sure what that means, it’s a start.  Secondly… and most interestingly, President Obama refuses to condemn Edward Snowden.  Why is this interesting?  Because he actually took a sentence of his speech to NOT condemn Edward Snowden.  He could have simply said nothing regarding Snowden’s act.  Very, very interesting indeed.  I’m sure that is probably being received like a Lead Zeppelin over at the NSA.)

(Live Update II:  Your Liberty cannot rely on you trusting the Government… “there are too many examples in history where that didn’t work”… so we are going to do a bunch of stuff you can never see.  Trust us.)

Here’s the reality folks, they are not interested in any limitation being applied to their spying on you.  They also do not have the ability to collect one signal and not the other.  They do not want to stop collecting information about you, your kids and everyone you know because they don’t know how.  They do not want to admit this to you.  They do not want to admit that the information can be, and has been abused as documented here and everywhere else… whip out your googler.  They have been collecting data since Bush I.  This is old, old, old… and all those who were trying to get your attention regarding this were, successfully, called “conspiracy theorists” and “nut jobs”.

So there you go.  The politicians Hate it when they are Not in charge and Love it when they Are.  It really is that simple.  And it really is about control.

So what do we do?

I recommend pouring a Martini.  Or, three.

(Holy Crap Update III:  “I know those always expecting the worst intentions of Government is frustrating”… “Nobody expects China to have an Open debate regarding their security processes.”  Aside from the fact that we don’t yet live in China… Holy Crap!  China Envy?  Seriously?  For the record, if I lived in China I would indeed expect open debate about State Security and Domestic Spying.  So the only meaning I can take away from this is the President is upset he cannot stifle his population’s desire to “openly discuss” such matters – damn it.  Stunning!)

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What Does a Police State look like?

So What does an Oppressive Police State look like?

History is replete with examples… the problem is they were all sold to the public as integral to security, and their initial behavior dismissed as necessary, until well after the fact and by then it was too late.

Keep in Mind,

You still go to work… you still send your kids to school… you still have a place to live… you still make dinner…

But, in the back of your mind you know everything is different.  Everything.  And the only thought you might have is “How did it get this way?”  “What Happened?”  “I Don’t Understand.”  Followed by, “It happened so slowly.”  Finally ending with “Why did we let this happen?”

If you need “hard evidence” of what I’m talking about I’ll stay within my area and recommend tracing the origins of Soviet Security Services From the Cheka, Smersh and KGB to the “newer” incarnations of the SVR and FSB. Feel free to whip out your Googler now… I’ll wait.

If you’re not in the mood for a history lesson dealing with Anglo’s oppressing and killing each other, then check out the Tonton Macoute… they’re fun.

But keep in mind, these “needed policemen” were not sold to the population as an important part of keeping the country safe by interrogating, intimidating and killing you efficiently.

All of them started somewhere.

And that somewhere was right in front of the very people they went on to oppress.  With the majority of their support.  (This is always left out of the brief historical blurbs… read a little deeper and you’ll see remarkable parallel’s we seemed doomed to relive.)

Here’s what we Know:

We know we are being watched by our government.  We know our journalists are being spied on in real-time.  The 100 journalists at AP whose phones were tapped (let alone what else was done to them that has yet come to light) should be enough to seriously freak all of us out.  We know the Government is experimenting with getting us to accept all kinds of new methods of Force.  Do you think they will stop at forcing you to buy health insurance once you accept it is within their power to do so?  When has restraint ever been exercised by any Government anywhere on Earth let alone ours?  Once you give them the power of force there will always be human beings looking for new ways to wield it.  It’s our nature… it is undeniable… it is historically demonstrable.  It cannot be dismissed by anyone who is not one of those wishing for it.

But we seem to be OK with the direction we’re headed… is that the appropriate reaction?

Now the World is rising up against our spying on Them.

But what should concern us more?  Should we be concerned about our Government listening in on cell phone traffic coming out of Estonia or cell phone traffic coming from You, an American Citizen, whose done nothing wrong?

I would offer that the latter is far more serious.  Think about it this way, the Estonian… Chinese… Ethiopian police forces cannot show up at your door and do bad things to you.

While you’re still holding out that “The Black Helicopter Crowd”, and historians like me, are crazy,

this little story comes to light…

Fed’s Confiscate Investigative Journalist’s Files using an unrelated Warrant for a Crime that had not been committed.

Remember, just because you’re Paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to Get You.

Most of us do not have the background to recognize how very bad things find their beginning.  However, A few of us do.  Find those folks and listen to them.

While I would never suggest you trust me… Allow me to share with you the knowledge that you really, really, really Do Not want to live in a Place where this type of oppression is accepted.  By the time you no longer want to accept it, it’s too late.

I know you’re probably reading this thinking “I have nothing to worry about because I’ve done nothing wrong.”.  Let me also share with you the fact that none of the above mentioned, well-intentioned, “security services” ever let your “not doing anything wrong” get in their way.  The Journalist in the above article was just doing her job.

Once enough of us completely disregard the Constitution on the United States which was written explicitly to protect the Individual from Government and the Mob rule of the Majority… once we accept and allow them the power of force to do what they are now doing… once what is happening now is accepted as necessary and “for our own security and well-being”… we are only steps away from becoming another foot note in the history references I’m sending you to research in the above paragraphs.

Come on kids… you are not stupid, contrary to what they may think.

Well as long as you Admit it…

It’s OK.

NSA looks at FAR, FAR more people’s data than previously disclosed.

So…

No Problem then.

We’ll just forget about all this and start going to movies again.

(Could the investigation of this Domestic Spying be why so many Governmental Department heads are suddenly “retiring”?)

 

 

Google Can’t Shoot You

… and claim the Patriot Act was on Their side.

So stop trying to justify the NSA’s collection of Citizen’s Personal Data because Google, and others, do it.

Did the Democrats buy information from Google for President Obama’s Election and re-election Campaigns?  Yes, they did.  But it’s not their fault the Republicans were too stupid to make the same investment.  Data Mining is something that should aggravate you when conducted by private companies… like Google, Bing, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, etc…

But it should incense you to the point of demanding jail time for those responsible when Data Mining is conducted by the Federal Government using, unconstitutionally obtained, innocent civilian personal information.  Not only that, the fact that the government is storing every communication prior to a crime being committed should make you want to vomit.

Private companies can do whatever they want… so long as it’s legal… and they are willing to face the public. In other words, the fine folks at Google can be put in jail, or watch their share prices drop at a minimum.

We enjoy NO SUCH RECOURSE when dealing with the government. You cannot sue the Government.  The Government Employees never go to jail.  You can’t put the Government out of business.  The best we ever get is a hearing or two with the promise that “steps have been taken to make sure (whatever you’re complaining about) will not happen again”.  Frankly, We consider ourselves lucky to get an “I’m Sorry.”.

There is a VAST difference between PRIVATE and GOVERNMENT.

We were not founded as a Nation that was supposed to “Trust the Government”.  In fact, our founding documents were specifically designed to limit Government power exactly because Government was not to be trusted… ever.  Never.

Another Argument is; “We’ve been doing this for a long time… almost a decade.  And we haven’t seen a problem…” -Charles Krauthammer.

SO WHAT!?  The U.S. Government has been wasting our money for far longer than they have been Spying on the Entire Nation… so it’s OK?!  Unbelievable.

The last, and latest, argument to try to make you feel okay is; “Judges have signed off on these seizures of data.”  The fact the Eric Holder had to go “judge shopping” until he could find one to sign off on whatever he wanted, particularly the seizing of data from 100 AP reporters, should illustrate what a farce the FISA courts are.  It is not beyond a very simple imagination to think those courts could be stacked with exactly those types of judges.  It is worth noting that reportedly, of the 34,000 requests currently sent to FISA courts only 11 (eleven) have been refused.  Eleven… eleven… holy crap.

I find the reaction, and offered defenses, of what is going on to be astounding, and frightening all at the same time.  As should you.

Grab a pen, and start keeping track of those Politicians, Advisors, Talking Heads and Government Employees who defend such behavior.

You’ll need that list come election time.  You’ll also need a bottle of Bourbon… no glass, it’ll just get in the way.

“Mr. President, Are There Computers Listening to, in other words Scanning, our Phone Calls?”

Somebody, PLEASE change the question.

Make him, Clapper, Holder, Napolitano… someone, lie.

Or,
At the very least ask… “Mr. President, Do American’s have a Right to Privacy?”
Then have the Cojones to follow up with any one of the 1000 logical questions when he say’s “Yes.”

Like… “What, Mr. President, do you believe that includes?”

Weasels they are…