When Edward Snowden gave up a lucrative career in an island paradise to blow the whistle about the US government's staggeringly broad spying operations – revealing what thousands of others with access to the same information wouldn't – he was going up against a system that values loyalty to those who sign your paychecks over loyalty to principle or the public. A columnist for The New York Times, which is very much a part of that system, denounced him in terms one would think would be reserved for our leaders, declaring that Snowden had “betrayed the Constitution” and “the privacy of us all” by leaking evidence of the Obama administration doing just that.
Snowden
need not be the world's greatest human being for us to recognize the
courage it took to do what he did. When compliance with a system
makes one an accomplice to wrongdoing, there's no virtue in being
compliant. There's no virtue in abiding by the “honor codes of all
those who enabled [one] to rise,” as the Times
columnist put it, when that code doesn't respect the rights of
everyone else. We recognize that when we go to the movies. Maybe we
should stop condemning it in real life?
Instead of getting
caught up in media attempts to pathologize a whistle-blower, we
should also probably look more closely at what the whistle was blown
on, because what Snowden revealed should be concerning, even if you
don't have relatives in Yemen.
This Matters
According
to leaked classified documents, the US National Security Agency (NSA)
is collecting data on nearly every call made by nearly every
American, from the time it was placed, who was called and from where
it originated. The NSA also has relationships with nearly every major
Internet company, from Facebook to Google, granting the agency
streamlined access to your user history. Everything you email or post
to your wall could end up on an NSA server somewhere. That's a lot of
data, which is why the agency is
building
a 1.5 million square feet server farm in Utah to hold it, at a cost
of $1.2 billion.
The
Obama administration claims the information it belatedly admits it
collects is only later accessed with a court order. But then, those
court orders are classified, granted by judges in a secret court in
front of which only the government can appear. Meanwhile, the White
House has refused to release its legal rationale for the spying
program, which senators from the president's own party suggest is
both illegal
and unnecessary.
It has, however, publicly credited the program with breaking up
terrorist plots, though those claims – like its earlier denials
that the spying program existed – have proven
false.
But while it's
intrusive, sure, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to
fear, right? Well, no. Even if you don't have grandparents in Yemen,
you should be concerned about any agency – that is, a collection of
fallible human beings – that claims the right and has the power to
know pretty much everything you've ever done on your iPhone. Go ahead
and assume the best motives on the part of those in power, just don't
forget that even the most honorable people have ex-lovers too. Even
saints can be seduced by power.
Most
spooks aren't saints, either. They're like us: fallen. And what would
you do if you were invisible? For some NSA employees, listening to
your phone calls is the equivalent of sneaking into the locker room,
several of them telling
ABC News
that the agency routinely eavesdrops on the phone calls of Americans
abroad as they call friends and family back home.
“Hey,
check this out,” the agents would tell each other, according to one
whistle-blower. "There's good phone sex or there's some pillow
talk, pull up this call, it's really funny, go check it out.” Not
exactly the model of professionalism one would hope for in someone
who has god-like eavesdropping powers.
"These were just
really everyday, average, ordinary Americans who happened to be in
the Middle East, in our area of intercept and happened to be making
these phone calls on satellite phones," said another military
whistleblower. Journalists and aid workers had their communications
intercepted on a regular basis.
That was a decade ago.
It's Gotten Worse
These
days, the NSA is now
known
to be intercepting a much broader range of communication. Revelations
to The Guardian show it claims the ability to tap into not just email
communication, but live Skype calls. Basically everything you do on
the Internet could potentially be viewed by a US government agent.
There's no need for black helicopters when you voluntarily divulge
your life secrets with the help of a black box made by Sony. Or a
white one by Apple.
You should be
especially concerned if you have opinions about things going on in
our world. When a group of Pennsylvanians began working to stop a
natural gas fracking project in their community, they found
themselves listed on a state Department of Homeland Security
bulletin. “We want to continue providing this support to the
Marcellus Shale Formation natural gas stakeholders while not feeding
those groups fomenting dissent against those same companies,” the
Secretary of Homeland Security, a Democrat, stated in an email.
If you oppose corporate
America's destruction of your community, you could end up being
lumped in with actual terrorist threats. And once the word
“terrorism” is invoked, all bets are off, potentially leading to
a government agent, working on behalf of their corporate
stakeholders, going through every ill-considered email you ever sent.
Sometimes, simply
stating one's political beliefs is enough to grab the state's
attention. In Seattle, the NSA's partners in surveillance at the FBI
tracked a group of young anarchists to a May Day demonstration, not
because they were wanted for any crimes, but because they called
themselves anarchists.
“Although
many anarchists are law-abiding,” an FBI agent explained,
“there is a history in the Pacific Northwest of some anarchists
participating in property destruction and other criminal activity in
support of their political philosophy.” And so we track them. And
with the surveillance capabilities we have today, it's not hard to
make even the most innocent acts seem sinister, particularly when one
has unpopular political beliefs or presents a challenge to corporate
or state power.
It Could Be You
Combined
with expansive terrorism laws, that could be a nightmare for those
who fall in the arbitrary crosshairs of a government prosecutor
looking to make a name for themselves. In 2010, the Supreme Court
ruled
that
humanitarian groups can be convicted of “material support” for
terrorism even if that support consists solely of helping seek
conflict resolution. As former president Jimmy Carter said at the
time, “the vague language of the law leaves us wondering if we will
be prosecuted for our work to promote peace and freedom.”
Others don't have to
wonder. Since 2010, antiwar activists across the country have been
subpoened and forced to testify before grand juries into a “material
support” for terrorism investigation that has succeeded in scaring
those who do humanitarian work in Palestine and Colombia, but as of
yet yielded no convictions. Perhaps our broad spying and terrorism
laws are working, just not in the way our leaders tell us. And, as
these activists can attest: you don't need to be convicted of
anything to be constantly spied on.
As
another NSA whistle-blower, William Binney, recently
told
journalist Amy Goodman, “if you're doing something that irritates
or is against what the government wants to be expressed to the
American public, then you can become a target.” It's as easy as
that. And whenever you call a friend, keep in mind that you're
calling every friend your friend has ever called. Are you absolutely
sure you have nothing to hide?
In
Washington, most politicians seem annoyed that you now know this. They
wish you didn't. As Senator Al Franken explained,
“Anything that the American people know, the bad guys know so
there's a line here, right?”
That's how those in
Washington often view those they claim to represent in our
representative democracy: lumped in with the bad guys. Indeed, aiding
us in our knowledge of what the government is doing in our name, as
Bradley Manning and now Edward Snowden have done, is often likened
with aiding the enemy.
“I
don't look at this as being a whistle-blower,” Senator Dianne
Feinstein said
of
the NSA leaks. “I think it's an act of treason.”
Feinstein
voted for a war in Iraq that she and her husband personally profited
from,
so she knows a thing or two dozen about treachery. But she's off base
here. The American public is not the enemy, nor
should informing them about the things being done to them with their
own money be construed as the act of a traitor. Edward Snowden may
not be the world's greatest human being; who reading this has met
him? What we do know his act did a lot of good by exposing a lot of
wrong and took a lot more courage than it takes to criticize him on
Capitol Hill. Since they don't see that very often there, no wonder
they mistake it as treason.
Good piece, Charlie.
ReplyDeleteConsidering that The Hairdresser Site has been running wall-to-wall trash since a certain famous traitor left, I can see why they would've turned this down. Might confuse their target audience.
Great read as usual, Charles. Hard for me not to get irate about the state-of-affairs but the truth is this is just par for the course. it's fucking sick.
ReplyDelete3 typos the nsa will have on file forever along with the correction being offered:
ReplyDeleteseem annoyed that you now now this
American public is not the enemy the enemy
nor shouldinforming
"try not to typo your way into a recordable threat" should be a new motto in the age of Orwell.
Proofreading is counter-revolutionary, comrade.
DeleteTruly excellent, Charles. You've made it as clear as it possibly can be. The danger seems self-evident to me, and you've added a few extra considerations. Thanks for writing this.
ReplyDelete-bystander
Prescient, cogent and timely, CD. Truly prophetic and wise. You have revealed many hidden facets of the ultimate truth of existence, here, with this post.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, but if we count the words in each paragraph, and apply the proper (secretly hidden in Para 4) formula, we are given a set of lottery numbers to play, which are guaranteed a fine return at your local Scratch Ticket office.
By the way, don't forget to go shop for some new birkenstocks with that royalty check you just received from Lizzie Frawley Bagley. I'm envious, and I'd go with a pair of suede blue Milanos myself.
Oh -- and Glenn Greenwald, he's a genius of legal thinking! Nobody holds a candle to him! Have you ever seen the reported cases he worked on? Hundreds of them. His legal skills are spectacular!
And Edward Snowden? Truly, a man for the ages. Did you see his hair gel? His $1,000 eyeglasses? His silk t-shirts? With that kind of grooming, he must be a true whistleblower.
I don't believe those people who say Charles Davis is a kept man. You're far too heroic for that.
Signed,
Adelaide Myrer
I always thought Daniel Ellsberg was suspect too. I mean, he dressed more like a RAND Corporation analyst than any whistle-blower I know.
DeleteI'm afraid that whistled over my head, Charles. But that's why I read you, because you're so much smarter than I am.
DeleteWould you please break down what you mean by the reference to Ellsberg and RAND corporation?
Great post Charles. Also your couple of trolls in the comments provide consistently serviceable entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit to being a bit puzzled by all the disclaimers about Snowden not being a saint, etc. Have the tabloids (NY Times etc) already started in with the smear job?
ReplyDeleteI mean, we all know that Manning is a hysterical sexually confused lunatic and Assange is a sex-crazed rapist, but what's the angle they're selling on Snowden? Wears white after Labour Day? Lousy tipper? Doesn't use his turn signal?
Nice lawylerly instincts there, Piccy. "Plays for my team, therefore honest and forthright."
Delete10th year associate? "Counsel"? "Of counsel"?