Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
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Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
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Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#2As a progressive, I have conflicts with some of Rand Paul (and his father Ron) policies and positions. However, you have to admit they're beginning to sound like profits.
Like it or not, they adhere to a fairly strict view of the constitution and that's admirable in the current poll-based world of politics.
That said, Paul (and father) were never good communicators. Both vocally and even prosaically. I'm surprised he is not using the IRS scandal and tie it to the NSA's potential abuse of power.
As we know the metadata can be used to see if a person had an abortion, may have sought mental health (calling suicide hotlines, etc.) may have feared STDs (calling aids hotline) may have had cosmetic surgery or slew of other things.
Any of these information, can for example, be misused against a political contender running against the current administration. Comparisons to IRS' supposed targeting of certain political entity would have been tangible and palpable example of the unchecked power of NSA and would have been farm more visceral than the heady, "Big Brother" argument.
Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#3"No one objects to balancing security against liberty. No one objects to seeking warrants for targeted monitoring based on probable cause. We've always done this.
What is objectionable is a system in which government has unlimited and privileged access to the details of our private affairs, and citizens are simply supposed to trust that there won't be any abuse of power. This is an absurd expectation."
I think one of the reasons we libertarians have had such a hard time over the years talking about the security state we're building is that Paul is right: this is absurd. People simply do not believe that such a thing is actually happening. Sure, they think, some bad guys are being monitored, and the usual crackpots are complaining, but overall the government is doing a good job. After all, there hasn't been another 9-11, right?
I appreciate Paul's efforts, but we're going to need massive reform in the surveillance policies of the U.S. As a start we need something like another Church Committee.
One thought is this: how about making it a felony not to disclose information that an agency is clearly violating the constitution.
Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#4Congratulations Obama, Feinstein. You've got me throwing in with Rand Paul. Though I could trust you with our civil liberties and privacy, but now I have to get behind the Ayn Rand loving libertarian on this. So be it; policy over party.
Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#5As a progressive, I have conflicts with some of Rand Paul (and his father Ron) policies and positions. However, you have to admit they're beginning to sound like profits. Like it or not, they adhere to a fairly strict view of the constitution and that's admirable in the current poll-based world of politics. That said, Paul (and father) were never good communicators. Both vocally and even prosaically. I'm surprised he…
"I'm surprised he is not using the IRS scandal and tie it to the NSA's potential abuse of power."
Actually, he does mention the IRS scandal:
"The president assures us that the government is simply monitoring the origin and length of phone calls, not eavesdropping on their contents. Is this administration seriously asking us to trust the same government that admittedly targets political dissidents through the Internal Revenue Service and journalists through the Justice Department?"
Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#6Congratulations Obama, Feinstein. You've got me throwing in with Rand Paul. Though I could trust you with our civil liberties and privacy, but now I have to get behind the Ayn Rand loving libertarian on this. So be it; policy over party.
I am glad to hear people start to admit that policy is more important then party. I believe that is a key step in us moving forward as we need to agree on shared principles that are universal and have a means to insure our elected officials follow through on them.
Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#7As a progressive, I have conflicts with some of Rand Paul (and his father Ron) policies and positions. However, you have to admit they're beginning to sound like profits. Like it or not, they adhere to a fairly strict view of the constitution and that's admirable in the current poll-based world of politics. That said, Paul (and father) were never good communicators. Both vocally and even prosaically. I'm surprised he…
"I'm surprised he is not using the IRS scandal and tie it to the NSA's potential abuse of power." Actually, he does mention the IRS scandal: "The president assures us that the government is simply monitoring the origin and length of phone calls, not eavesdropping on their contents. Is this administration seriously asking us to trust the same government that admittedly targets political dissidents through the Internal…
> Actually, he does mention the IRS scandal
I saw that. However, it's made in passing and the core of his argument and the title of his article is about "Big Brother". Which sounds heady and usually associated with the conspiracy types.
Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#8As a progressive, I have conflicts with some of Rand Paul (and his father Ron) policies and positions. However, you have to admit they're beginning to sound like profits. Like it or not, they adhere to a fairly strict view of the constitution and that's admirable in the current poll-based world of politics. That said, Paul (and father) were never good communicators. Both vocally and even prosaically. I'm surprised he…
> However, you have to admit they're beginning to sound like profits.[sic]
Here's a video I came across the other day of Ron Paul in 1984: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAWmKpBeEz0
Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#9Congratulations Obama, Feinstein. You've got me throwing in with Rand Paul. Though I could trust you with our civil liberties and privacy, but now I have to get behind the Ayn Rand loving libertarian on this. So be it; policy over party.
Hey, ya never know, once you take the plunge, you might find that you like it here on the dark-side. :-)
Libertarians are mostly pretty nice once you get to know them. Some of us are downright friendly at times.
Re: Rand Paul: Big Brother Really Is Watching Us
#10"No one objects to balancing security against liberty. No one objects to seeking warrants for targeted monitoring based on probable cause. We've always done this. What is objectionable is a system in which government has unlimited and privileged access to the details of our private affairs, and citizens are simply supposed to trust that there won't be any abuse of power. This is an absurd expectation." I think one of…
> One thought is this: how about making it a felony not to disclose information that an agency is clearly violating the constitution.
The obligation to whistle blow is usually an explicit part of "honor codes," such as "I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do."
The US military uses this honor code in various contexts, see for example US Navy's Bootcamp http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/recruits.asp and Officer Candidate Guide, US Army National Guard http://dmna.ny.gov/arng/ocs/forms/ocs_guide.pdf
In practice however, I believe authority usually interprets these honor codes as "snitch on your compatriots when they compromise authority", not "snitch on authority when they compromise your compatriots."