Sick and tired of the Snowden fanbase

[JDPriestly]

163. I can understand your concern, but the fact is that other countries, at

least the more industrialized countries, probably have a lot of this capacity themselves.

Perhaps giving their journalists this information will make people in some of these countries question their own governments more.

Our Constitution guarantees us freedom of the press which indirectly guarantees us freedom of information. We claim that we believe in universal human rights including freedom of the press and of speech and assembly and thus of freedom of information.

You may accuse me of being a libertarian. I am not. But I do agree with the viewpoint of libertarians on specific issues that have traditionally also been the views of American Democrats -- such as freedom of speech and press and assembly.

Jefferson believed that these freedoms were universal. At least that is what he wrote in the Declaration of Independence although perhaps not in precisely the words that Madison used when he and his colleagues drew up the Bill of Rights. And I agree with Jefferson and Madison. The freedoms of speech, of the press, of religion and of the right to address my grievances with my government, are universal. The people of every nation have those freedoms. If my government's surveillance violates those freedoms for people who are not terrorists, regardless of where they are, then I oppose that surveillance. And I really don't see why they should not be apprised of that surveillance.

This is a problem with the global information system. Does it give too much information to the few who manage and control it? What would Jefferson and Madison say?

We need to have security as a nation. So do other nations.

But is our government respecting the personal security of Americans and of those people living in other countries with this massive collection of data (surveillance) program? I don't think so. I think this program empowers a small elite with information with which they can in the future although they may not be yet doing it, punish those who criticize or disagree with them simply for their thoughts and words and ideas.

This is an abomination. The internet is being subverted by this program, and it needs to end.