In the wake of scandal, news outlets are awaiting statements as the administration scrambles to explain the need for violating personal privacy in the collection of personal data from Verizon and online services. But in truth we need no explanation. we caught them doing exactly what we should suspect them to do, and now we should expect them to give us a BS response. Why force them to BS us?
Knowledge is power and without power, governments are ineffective. Their job is to continually reach for it, so it is to be expected for them to violate public privacy and reach for as much power as possible. It is up to the public to protect its own interests; in other words, it is up to private citizens to say no. Any other arrangement encourages the public to complacency.
To avoid complacency, we are wise to reject any explanations the administration provides. if we listen, we are communicating that there is an explanation possible, that some excuse might be sufficient, and it gives them the possibility of coming up with one. It means that we are just looking for the excuse to settle back down and let government do what it wants.
It is up to us to put pressure on our officials to enforce the Bill of Rights and protect the public from unconstitutional search and seizure, including personal information. It is not the government's responsibility to prevent government from becoming too large and powerful and overreaching its authority; it is the citizens' responsibility. Expecting government to behave itself on its own is encouraging them to misbehave and avoiding our own responsibilities.
It is important for us to take an active roll in communicating with our legislators. It is just as important to communicate with news outlets who report on government activities, as they are the ones who determine whether the government gets away with their abuses. Let them know what we expect, that we are not looking for excuses, that we are taking an active role and looking for solutions.
