Treason and Mr. Snowden

It is amazing to me how things in politics can change in such a short period of time. Not long ago the focus was all on the fact of the government spying on us in various ways or using agencies to screen or target various groups depending on their political affiliation. Today we seem to have forgotten that the government is the actual bad guy doing the spying on us and are now focused on the messenger.

Mr. Snowden is no saint, of that I am quite sure, but he is no criminal either. He told the truth to the American people; we are indeed being spied on by our own government. That’s the message plain and simple. What was his crime? What makes him any different then others who have been saying the same things for years, including myself, other then he had actual written proof?

Consider that the very people who are accusing him of treason are the same people who frequently violate the constitution that they are sworn to uphold and protect and refuse to play by the same rules that they lay out for the rest of us. So what is their real problem? They got caught with their trousers down and by getting caught they are afraid of losing some of the power they have been slowly grabbing over the past 15 years or so.

Now that they have charged him with treason lets consider what it actually means to commit treason. Websters dictionary describes it as such: The offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family also the betrayal of trust as in treachery.

The “ Concise Encyclopedia” says this: Offense of attempting to overthrow the government of one's country or of assisting its enemies in war. In the U.S., the framers of the Constitution defined treason narrowly—as the levying of war against the U.S. or the giving of aid and comfort to its enemies—in order to lessen the possibility that those in power might falsely or loosely charge their political opponents with treason.

So this brings up a whole host of questions. What country was he trying to overthrow? What sovereign was he trying to kill? What enemies of the the US was he assisting? If you answer the third question logically you can only assume,based on this definition, that we are the enemies in question because we were the ones that were informed. I suppose it could be argued that he aided the Brits, well OK it was a British news paper, but he told them none the less, yet last I knew we are allies and we haven't been at war with them since the war of 1812, maybe I missed the enemy memo.

What did he say that would actually surprise our enemies? They had to have known this was going on already, the only way the couldn't have would have been to be using nothing more than smoke signals and beating drums. Yet last time I looked if you wanted to know something you didn't have to go any further than CNN. Just before I was deployed to Kuwait and then to Iraq, after being told that we couldn't tell anyone, CNN reported that 7,000 Marines were leaving Camp LeJeune heading for Kuwait. When I called a very dear friend of mine to say good bye they already knew. In the electronic age you cannot anything for very long.

It has been said by some that he should return to the US to face the charges, that he should make his case in court. Do you honestly think that it would happen? Do you really think he wouldn't just disappear? He is an American citizen in an America that now allows it's own citizens to be indefinitely detained, by the military, without any charges ever being filed ,where American citizens can be killed with impunity based on the presidents judgment with out charges or trial. Where the federal government will use the power that it has to investigate you if you openly speak against the president and his policies. If he is smart he will stay away as long as he can.

So what did he say that really surprised anyone? Nothing. As I said before; in this electronic age with global communications there is no way you can hide things for long. Many people having been trying to tell Americans that this has been going on for years and most have either ignored it, thought we were nothing but tin foil hat types, or have embraced it.

The only thing that happened is that they got caught. They are embarrassed and Mr. Snowden has become the latest scape goat. Rather than focus on the message they have distracted everyone with the messenger.

Summer Tin Foil Hat Time

Start tin foil transmission. Various quotes come from AP, CNN,FOX, and The Washington Post and my own screwed up mind. I don't take any credit for the reports just my own.
Politicians must love the summer. With summer officially only two days away many of the news items that have been running amok in the press will likely go away as we all head out to do our favorite things, I call them the three “B's” you know beer ,BBQ , and beach. The hard fought battles and scandals of the winter and spring will go away and upon your return to the political world it will begin the election 2014 season. Gone will be the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, gone will be the IRS targeting conservative groups. Missing will be the AG office snooping on the press as well NSA spying on all of us. Missing in action will be all those commentaries from people in DC who support spying on us in violation of the 4^th pesky amendment. Summer and holidays have a way of cauterizing our political wounds and making us forgetful as we doze in the warmth.
So as you head off to your vacations, if you can afford one any how, just remember some of us tin foil hat types will be here trying to keep things in order for you so upon your return you can be reminded of what is real, not the illusion of whats real.
In the mean time here are just a few thoughts to start your summer with.
How many of you remember the whole sequestration issue? I know its been months now and we Americans have a really short memory but it seems to me that if there is such a budget crisis,as we have been lead to believe, then there is something dreadfully wrong here. The president and his family are going to spend up wards of 100 million dollars to go to Africa for a week or so. Excuse me? They can spend all that money on “vacation” while Walter Reed has to furlough people with out pay.
“President Obama’s trip this month to Africa, with the first family tagging along, is projected to cost taxpayers as much as $100 million, sparking criticism as the federal government scrimps along during sequester-related budget cuts.”
“Among the related costs will be fighter jets; hundreds of Secret Service agents; a Navy ship with a full trauma center; and military cargo planes to bring 56 vehicles including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bullet proof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay.
The details were reported by The Washington Post, based on a confidential planning document.”
So while they are enjoying Africa on your dime and with a supposed budget crisis going on:

“Thousands of civilian workers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center -- the country’s top facility for wounded combat soldiers -- are facing furloughs this summer, as a result of sequester and other federal budget problems, according to the Defense Department.

Roughly 2,400 workers at the suburban Washington facility were recently notified by letter that the department needs them to take off as many as 11 days without pay this summer to help with “extraordinary and serious budgets challenges.” Fox News
If that doesn't set sparks flying from your tinfoil hat maybe this might. Again ,remember the sequester, but also consider that this agency targeted political groups that are conservative and while you might hate conservative groups consider if they target them they may come after yours when the political winds finally change as they historically do.

“The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says his office has learned that the IRS is executing an agreement with the employees' union on Wednesday to pay the bonuses. Grassley says the bonuses should be canceled under an April directive from the White House budget office.”
The timing of all this is wonderful waiting until tax day is done and most people minds are focused on summer vacations and aren't really paying attention.
And last, at least for today, in the “violate the constitution”section we have worded proof that our elected officials from the president on down really don't believe in the constitution that they are sworn to uphold.

“The center lives. Bipartisanship is not dead, as Democratic and Republican congressional leaders rally around the National Security Agency's big data grab. With the exception of op-ed writers, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Pauls — Rand and Ron — Washington's establishment is standing together with the administration. In this scrum, party is secondary, at least on Capitol Hill. In a show of unity virtually unseen since 9/11, the congressional leadership has come out unanimously in support of the status quo, while deflecting allegations that The Guardian's news story was actually news.”

Now I agree with them on one part of it; it's really not news. Many have known about it for years and have warned long and loud about it. Now it's in your face and can't be ignored. It is also no real news that those whom we have elected don't really care about it as long as they can keep their power.

So just keep in mind as you go out to enjoy the summer months that your government is thinking about you and quite literally watching you, and while you can't get into a federal preserve or do a White House tour because of the sequestration or because you can't afford a vacation just think of the president and his family while they are enjoying Africa on your dime.

End of tin foil transmission.

Lessons from an old Marine

Here is the simplified version of what is going on in DC via an illustration from and old Marine I once served under.

An old Sgt.Major that I had back in the dark ages described honesty and integrity like this; Honesty and integrity means that I can drop my wallet full of cash and credit cards along with my ID on the parade deck and after a weekend of liberty either finding it where I dropped it with everything still in it or finding it in the duty office where some Marine brought it to after finding it on the deck. Either way all the money, credit cards and ID are still in it and no harm has been done. Simply put honesty and integrity is doing what is right even when no one is looking or even if what is right is not popular.

With all that’s been going on in the government, they would have picked up his wallet, took all the money, traced his credit history with his credit cards, used his ID to look him up on Google and Face Book to see what he was saying on line. Then check his social security number for tax evasion or to see if he had health insurance and fine him if not. If he had dropped a cell phone as well they would be looking at his text messages and who he was talking to. In the end his only crime would prove to be that he dropped his wallet and phone. They would tell him, if they were caught that is, that it was for his security and safety and he had nothing to hide so why be concerned. This is the complete opposite of honesty and integrity.

This is a very simplistic way to look at the ongoing problems in Washington but sometimes simply put is whats needed when we hear little more than talking points or political speech.

This isn't a partisan issue. There have been both democrats and republicans who seem to have little to no problem with the NSA, FBI, CIA (pick your agency) spying on American citizens. We have a president who says he “welcomes the debate” what debate? This has been done with out our knowledge or consent and is in clear violation of the 4^th amendment. There is no debate to be had.

Honesty and integrity; doing whats right when no one is looking. The government has failed and now we are all looking.

Verizon Users vs the Government.

So all of you who use Verizon feeling pretty good right now? Perhaps you don't know yet? The National Security Agency, the NSA for short, has all of your phone records! That puts you in the company of Fox News and the AP! Doesn't that just give you warm fuzzies?! Especially for those of you who love this current administration. I know that Bush and company started all this madness with the “Patriot Act” but I thought your man and his administration was going to be “ the most transparent administration ever.” I thought that he was going to get rid of all the evil done under the republicans and restore our freedoms and liberties and improve our standing in the world. Did I miss the memo changing things? When was it that we became the Soviet Union?

Here is a question for you to ponder. If they have gotten to Verizon, this is for those of us who don't use their services, what makes you think that they don't have the records of all our carriers? They had them from just about all the carriers back during the Bush era ,thanks to provisions made in the Patriot Act, so why wouldn't Obama and company do the same?

I suppose though that this is just another one of those times where it doesn't really matter to most Americans. You have nothing to hide and you should always expect that your personal information to be public, forget about that pesky 4^th amendment that foolishly says”The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Of course they didn't have cell phones in those days,the founding fathers could never have imagined such things but just like modern guns, which they couldn't have imagined either,we should expect our liberties to be curtailed for the good of all, but hey this is all perfectly acceptable under the Patriot Act and has been going on for years according to Senators Fienstein and Chambliss the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Select Committee On Intelligence. They insist that only the Metadata is being collected ,not the actual conversations, and can't be used unless FISA approves. This coming from the same people who tried to tell us that the TSA couldn't keep records of people going through the scanners. Right, we know how that turned out.

Look I am a simple minded person, hence the name of this blog, I get it that there are bad guys out there planning evil things but the idea of the 4^th amendment is that you target very specific people and things not everyone and everything. This isn't about democrat vs republican because both parties are complicit in allowing this to go on, this is about your fundamental rights being violated by a government that is way out of control and one that frequently,in the last 13 years or so, does so quite openly and blatantly.

Maybe I'm the one that’s out of touch with reality. Perhaps everyone really doesn't mind the government monitoring everything that they do constantly, I do but I suppose I am too simple Minded to understand why others are OK with it.