Believe those who are seeking the truth.
Doubt those who find it.
Andre Gide
Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor?
I came down on the latter side of the question in Monday's post; I have a nuanced position on this issue; I don't have a problem with the fact that he blew the whistle on a massive domestic spying operation that, to rephrase the late Judge Bork, makes the Fourth Amendment little more than an ink blot on the page. It is quite clear that this is more a case of gathering information first, apologizing later. In a world of rogue IRS agents in Cincinnati, where confidential IRS data from conservative groups get leaked to progressive websites, where government personnel or contractors lose laptops with confidential social security data, do American citizens really trust the government to warehouse private data that has zero relevance to the long-over-hyped War on Terror? I know there will always be a large segment of the population that will be gullible enough to believe whatever the government propagandists put out, whom are willing to throw the constitutional liberties of fellow Americans under the bus, and whom will view any assertion of privacy with suspicion (especially the unprincipled sheep whom think themselves clever to ask, why should you care if you have nothing to hide?)
But I've since seen other pro-liberty advocates I respect declare Snowden a hero: Fox Business libertarian Judge Napolitino; ACU showed about two-thirds of self-reported poll; Pentagon Papers whistleblower Ellsberg has put the Snowden expose among the most significant in American history, going beyond Wikileaks and his own effort; one of my favorite libertarian economists Don Boudreaux published a post of sympathetic Snowden citations; Ron Paul, as he frequently does, did a characteristic overstatement, implying that Snowden might surface on one of Obama's notorious kill lists of rogue Americans not afforded their constitutional protections.
Am I on the wrong side? I don't think so. I share their disgust with a FISA court that is little more than a speed bump on unfettered access to data so long as bureaucrats use the magic words "national security". I think the data collection efforts would never pass cost-benefit analysis; the government, seeking to justify throwing money at the problem, quickly and predictably argued that many terror plots were foiled. (Of course, somehow it didn't stop Ft. Hood, the Boston terror bombings, etc...) Others point out many foiled plots were sting operations and other revelations were more reliant on traditional spy methods or foreign tips.
But I think Snowden went beyond the politically inconvenient expose of secretive government programs that treat the Fourth Amendment as an anachronism. He knowingly violated the conditions of his clearance, he may have exposed details and security vulnerabilities to US adversaries, there are reports that we've seen only the tip of the iceberg of the documents, he did not make use of existing channels for whistle-blowing within the government to address his concerns, and he did his key revelations with a foreign news organization and is reportedly seeking asylum with a foreign adversary (China). If he was truly principled, he would be willing to mount a defense under our legal system; his actions seem mostly self-serving, in my point of view.
Consumer vs. Government Austerity
I think part of the problem here is a variation of the tragedy of the commons: if everyone owns an obscene debt, nobody owns it. Most Americans are hypocrites on the issue--don't touch Medicare, social security, Medicaid, social programs, national defense, education, etc... I have zero patience for this nonsense--it's like saying, I know I need to lose 80 lbs., but I need my daily doughnut, my after-work beer, etc. When I hear that clueless young lady defend federal education funding, she doesn't seem to be aware education is primarily a local/state responsibility and even politically favored spending like early education has only temporary effects.
It's Time for a Cool(idge) Change
My favorite President of the twentieth century (it's not even close) is Silent Cal. My favorite Coolidge anecdote has to be: "Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose."
Coolidge was not beyond criticism; for example, as one might expect of a Massachusetts politician, he had a fondness for protectionist tariffs. Beyond this video, why should pro-liberty conservatives embrace Coolidge? A brief summary via Wikipedia: "By 1927, only the richest 2% of taxpayers paid any federal income tax. Although federal spending remained flat during Coolidge's administration, allowing one-fourth of the federal debt to be retired...Coolidge [ the Vermont farmer's son] opposed McNary-Haugen, declaring that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis."... The regulatory state under Coolidge was, as one biographer described it, "thin to the point of invisibility."...Although not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter into foreign alliances....Coolidge spoke in favor of the civil rights of African Americans and Catholics. Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted full U.S. citizenship to all American Indians. Coolidge repeatedly called for anti-lynching laws to be enacted [and had this to say about a racist letter sent to him:]
During [WWI] 500,000 colored men and boys were called up under the draft, not one of whom sought to evade it. [As president, I am] one who feels a responsibility for living up to the traditions and maintaining the principles of the Republican Party. Our Constitution guarantees equal rights to all our citizens, without discrimination on account of race or color. I have taken my oath to support that Constitution....
Political Humor
Do you mind that the NSA is opening your mail and listening to your phone calls? I don't care. It's like the lady that tells you the directions in your car. At first I thought it was annoying, and then I realized it's just like being married. - David Letterman
[I think Dave's monologue got leaked to Jay Leno...]
he guy who blew the whistle on the NSA scandal is a former security worker named Edward Snowden. He is a high school dropout. He was making $122,000 a year. He lived in Hawaii. He was engaged to a beautiful former ballerina. And he gave it all up. So not only is he a whistleblower. He's also a moron. - Jay Leno
[Snowden wants to know who leaked that information to Leno....]
Military Family Reunions
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Robert Ariail and Townhall |
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups Redux
Simon & Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Simply one of the greatest songs ever written and the final in a hat trick of #1's for the duo; they would go on to hit the Top 10 twice more. One of the iconic hits of the 70's, and I believe we covered it in high school choir. Pair it up with James Taylor's cover of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" and you have a tone of optimism and reassurance as the nation muddled its way out of Vietnam and into the divisive Watergate era.
