Below is today’s column in USA Today (the print version is a bit shorter). The column looks at the effort of President Barack Obama and his congressional allies to get citizens to give up privacy as they did protections of the free press, due process, and international legal principles on earlier scandals. It is truly the final measure of devotion demanded in what has become a virtual cult of personality.
Over the course of five years, President Obama has demanded much from his supporters from promising not to prosecute officials for torture to ordering warrantless surveillance to the quashing of dozens of public interest lawsuits seeking judicial review of his policies to the recent attack on the free press. He even claimed, under his “Kill List” policy , the right to kill any U.S. citizen that he believes to be a threat to the United States. Yet, most Democrats stuck with Obama. Now, however, Obama is demanding the final measure of devotion — he is asking supporters to abandon privacy principles in a move that will fundamentally alter our society. Indeed, he and congressional allies are trying to convince Americans that they can free themselves of fear by simply redefining privacy in a new and surveillance friendly image.
At issue are massive surveillance programs through which the administration has seized data on every call made by every citizen. At the same time, data on millions of emails are being stored showing addresses, subject lines, and attachments. The effort allows citizens to be tracked in their associations and communications. In other words, total transparency of citizens in a new fishbowl society. In response to the outcry last week, Obama and others assured citizens that they have nothing to fear from the government collecting their calls and data. It was like a scene out of the movie The Matrix with politicians trying to convince people to give up their fears and learn to love living in the artificial environment created for them. Of course, as with the prior notions of the free press and the unilateral use of lethal force, people have to surrender prior notions of privacy. Obama explained these are just modest intrusions in the new concept of government-approved privacy. He insisted that so long as the government did not read your emails or listen to your calls, there is no danger to privacy. Likewise, Sen. Lindsay Graham scoffed at the notion of any concern over privacy so long as you don’t call a terrorist.
It is true that the Supreme Court in 1979 ruled that there is less protection afforded to phone numbers, which can be acquired under “pen registers.” Yet, even accepting that ill-conceived decision in Smith v. Maryland, the Court was addressing government seizure of numbers to individuals who become material to investigations. The government previously used “national security letters” to get such information. What the Obama administration has done is effectively issue a national security letter for every citizens in America. Recently, the Obama administration admitted to putting reporters under surveillance and seizing such information in what is viewed by many as an extreme attack on the principles of the free press. Many citizens remained quiet as the administration called reporters potential criminals for speaking with sources in the administration. Then, they learned the government was gathering the same information from them and all other citizens.
The new privacy model would protect only the content of your emails and calls — unless the government wants to read them. Before we are lulled back to sleep by our leaders, it is worth noting what you are about to give up.
The government has been secretly collecting all of your contacts from your intimate friends to political associations to doctors to product suppliers. Thus, if you are a government employee seeking information on being a whistleblower, your effort to reach lawyers or whistleblower groups will be seized.
Consider who you have called or emailed in the last month. The government can learn a great deal about you from just the people you call and subjects of your emails. Your “metadata” can reveal peculiar tastes and associations that you may consider hidden from all but your closest friends – and now a few thousand government monitors. The government will now know not only who you are calling but how long you are speaking, how often you call people or groups, where you call from, and even attachments like photos that you send. Ironically, the actual content of your calls or emails are usually not needed to determine the reason and subject of such communications. When you call an abortion clinic repeatedly or a medical marijuana resource line, the likely purpose of the call is self-evident. For citizens with unpopular political or religious views, repeated calls or emails to certain churches or groups indicate an obvious interest. From intimate affairs to political associations, the purpose of most communications are self-evident, particularly when they are placed within a mosaic of all of your contacts and calls.
In his press conference, Obama repeated the siren call of all authoritarian figures throughout history: while these powers are great, our motives are benign. So there you have it. The government is promising to better protect you if you just surrender this last measure of privacy. Perhaps it is time. After all, it was Benjamin Franklin who warned that “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and a member of USA TODAY’s board of contributors.
JUNE 10, 2013
WorldNetDaily (WND) describes itself as “an independent news company dedicated to uncompromising journalism, seeking truth and justice and revitalizing the role of the free press as a guardian of liberty.” The online newspaper, which this year celebrated its 15th year in operation, is one of the “very few sources” martial artist and action film hero Chuck Norris (who happens to be a columnist) trusts for news and an operation that megachurch pastor Greg Laurie (also a columnist) says does “a service to God and Country.”
WND is the brainchild of Joseph Farah, a self-described “radical” and longtime antigovernment propagandist and apologist for the Confederacy who believes “cultural Marxists” are plotting “to transform our political system, to change the way we think, to attack our values, to demean our faith in God, to reduce that shining city on the hill to the status of a drab public-housing project.” SPLC
“WorldNetDaily (WND) describes itself as “an independent news company dedicated to uncompromising journalism, seeking truth and justice and revitalizing the role of the free press as a guardian of liberty.” The online newspaper, which this year celebrated its 15th year in operation, is one of the “very few sources” martial artist and action film hero Chuck Norris (who happens to be a columnist) trusts for news and an operation that megachurch pastor Greg Laurie (also a columnist) says does “a service to God and Country.”
WND is the brainchild of Joseph Farah, a self-described “radical” and longtime antigovernment propagandist and apologist for the Confederacy who believes “cultural Marxists” are plotting “to transform our political system, to change the way we think, to attack our values, to demean our faith in God, to reduce that shining city on the hill to the status of a drab public-housing project.”
Together with a coterie of antigovernment “Patriots,” anti-gay activists, white nationalists, Muslim-bashers, conspiracy theorists, end-times prophets and ultraconservative hardliners, Farah — who did not respond to requests to be interviewed for this article — has built WND into a modest media empire including a book imprint, an online subscription-only “intelligence resource,” and a glossy, full-color monthly magazine. At press time, Alexa, which ranks websites, said WND was the 1,832nd most popular website in the world and the 423rd in the U.S. — just above the site for Nickelodeon and a few notches below Victoria’s Secret.
WND’s point of view is best described as a cross between the now-defunct supermarket tabloid Weekly World News, which was famous for reporting on Elvis sightings, and The New American, a monthly magazine published by the far-right, conspiracist John Birch Society. In its 15 years online, it has introduced readers to a smorgasbord of bizarre ideas, specializing in anti-gay, anti-Muslim, and anti-liberal propaganda; antigovernment conspiracy theories; and end-times prophecy.” SPLC
“WorldNetDaily (WND) describes itself as “an independent news company dedicated to uncompromising journalism, seeking truth and justice and revitalizing the role of the free press as a guardian of liberty.” The online newspaper, which this year celebrated its 15th year in operation, is one of the “very few sources” martial artist and action film hero Chuck Norris (who happens to be a columnist) trusts for news and an operation that megachurch pastor Greg Laurie (also a columnist) says does “a service to God and Country.”
WND is the brainchild of Joseph Farah, a self-described “radical” and longtime antigovernment propagandist and apologist for the Confederacy who believes “cultural Marxists” are plotting “to transform our political system, to change the way we think, to attack our values, to demean our faith in God, to reduce that shining city on the hill to the status of a drab public-housing project.”
Together with a coterie of antigovernment “Patriots,” anti-gay activists, white nationalists, Muslim-bashers, conspiracy theorists, end-times prophets and ultraconservative hardliners, Farah — who did not respond to requests to be interviewed for this article — has built WND into a modest media empire including a book imprint, an online subscription-only “intelligence resource,” and a glossy, full-color monthly magazine. At press time, Alexa, which ranks websites, said WND was the 1,832nd most popular website in the world and the 423rd in the U.S. — just above the site for Nickelodeon and a few notches below Victoria’s Secret.
WND’s point of view is best described as a cross between the now-defunct supermarket tabloid Weekly World News, which was famous for reporting on Elvis sightings, and The New American, a monthly magazine published by the far-right, conspiracist John Birch Society. In its 15 years online, it has introduced readers to a smorgasbord of bizarre ideas, specializing in anti-gay, anti-Muslim, and anti-liberal propaganda; antigovernment conspiracy theories; and end-times prophecy.” Southern Poverty Law Center.
Nothing on my twitter from the always reliable Laura Rosen or anyone else for that matter. Ann Coulter is also a columnist for WND…..
I kid you not … Wachdorf
Arkansas Hunting dot net is blogging the story as is the republican operative dot com and the godlike productions dot com … so far nothing in The Guardian or NYTimes or Washington Post but…
If you follow the link at the very end of the memo in WND you find some interesting sites having to do with the Air Force and operationalizing cberspace and some dude named Art “Wally” Wachdorf
“It is truly the final measure of devotion demanded in what has become a virtual cult of personality.” Jonathan Turley
Come off it, Professor. What on earth makes you think you’ve seen the “final” measure of authoritarian devotion to President Obama — especially on the part of his devotees on the far right of the right-wing Republican party? Do the names “Lindsey Graham” and “John McCain” mean anything to you? And what makes you think that Obama had to demand unquestioning devotion of them? It seems to me like they enthusiastically volunteered their devotion to his crony-corporate imperial militarism without his even having to ask.
I used to consider Bill Clinton the best Republican ever elected by the Democrats — until Barack Obama came along. It escapes me why he doesn’t just get it over with and officially join up with the Republican party like his hero Ronald Reagan did. Regardless of what he calls himself (and he seldom mentions the word “Democrat”), as long as President Obama keeps moving ever further to the right, he will have all the adoring, unquestioning obedience he requires, without even having to request it.
“WorldNetDaily has emerged as a leading outlet publicizing conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s citizenship status, claiming that Obama is not a natural-born American citizen and is thus not eligible to serve as president.[23][24][25] Such claims are considered unsubstantiated or debunked by most news sources. After the 2008 presidential campaign, WND began an online petition to have Obama’s Hawaiian birth certificate released to the public. The website also unsuccessfully urged Supreme Court justices to hear several lawsuits aiming to release Obama’s birth certificate.” wiki Also, Larry Klayman is a birther attorney.
L
Yeah, Smom. It’s certainly a situation to that merits looking at the messenger with skepticism, but just because WND is a manifest right wing propaganda organelle doesn’t mean the story is without merit either. I’d really like if some independent minded airman could confirm this memos existence either here or through another media outlet.
WND is right wing media. Pat Buchanan is a columnist there. I definitely would have to see this verified in other media.
This story was just forwarded to me by long time community member Bob, Esq. and I thought it was worth sharing as an example of coercive information management as a propaganda tool.
“Military told not to read Obama-scandal news
Verizon phone records story off-limits to airmen”
Although WND does provide a copy of the alleged memo in what they claim as an exclusive story, I would like to see this confirmed via another source. If true, this is further evidence Obama should be in front of the Senate facing impeachment charges as soon as possible.
I’m thinking . . . Thursday.
Now, twelve years and counting later, we have Barack “Body Count” Obama threatening to continue and extend Dimwit Dubya’s demented Crusade Against Pure Evil — especially against “the enemy within” — for a great while longer than “a while.”
Jill, That is the hyperbole that the right uses (more then the left and to better advantage) to split the country and makes the politicians refuse to work together.
Congress was briefed, Wyden and I forget who else, maybe Levin, have been speaking out against this for the last 2 years but neither media not other congresspeople cared.
This is on a lot more then just the president, no matter how the republicans have been spinning it (and I was surprised Cantor did not go after the pres this morning which to me was an indication that too many are on board with this.)
Gene, Thanks. I knew about carnivore from FBI friends, but had never heard of echelon.
Darren said: ” The increasing blind reliance on the software can lead to some problems where the owners of the software taking it as gospel and this is where individuals can be hurt or wrongly targeted just because their heuistics can run parallel to the pattern that is sought to be targeted.”
***********************************
I suspect it is exactly that model behind some of the incidents I reported on Sunday, regarding the hassling of general aviation travelers.
As someone pointed out earlier today on another blog; if their intelligence is so good, how come Edward Snowden got all that information, then got out of the country undetected?
Gene,
there is one way to get perfect computer security…don’t turn on the computer! Other than that, we can’t be stealthy on line.
Meet the contractors analyzing your private data
Private companies are getting rich probing your personal information for the government.
Call it Digital Blackwater
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/10/digital_blackwater_meet_the_contractors_who_analyze_your_personal_data/
I have to agree also that once the mechanics are in place to do the datamining and especially when the data on that is already in the hands of those who want it, it is only a matter of time before it is misused. That is one of the reasons for “rules” if there are any to prevent having access to the data in the first place.
Some might argue that even if all the data is available, relevant or data or an individual datum, becomes obfuscated in the noise and therefore privacy is maintained. That is often wishful thinking especially with regard to increasing computational and analytical abilities. Moore’s Law becomes especially relevant in trends.
One can look at human perception as a guide to what can be expected. Two methods the human brain uses are quite applicable to data analysis. One is pattern recognition, the other is change notification.
The change notification is a quite striking example. If you were to view an animated GIF image that consisted of a matrix of bits 1024 x 2048 bits where each was a random pattern of black or white dots where one randomly selected bit would change from black to white over the course of 1 second and repeated the human brain would spot that change immediately; and that is 1 bit among 2,097,152.
Software can detect that change very rapidly. Pattern recognition is becoming greater and greater in its capability and this is evidenced by voice recognition technology becoming greater and greater.
Patter recognition can be ported to whatever pattern the developer wants to encode. Moreover, it can be config’ed to “learn” with increasing accuracy. Yet, it is not an exact science. Another worry can be in the form of false positives or negatives. The increasing blind reliance on the software can lead to some problems where the owners of the software taking it as gospel and this is where individuals can be hurt or wrongly targeted just because their heuistics can run parallel to the pattern that is sought to be targeted. And it could be simply just an artifact of the model.
It is reasons for this, along with others, that it is best not to go down that road.
True enough leejcaroll. Fascists often made the trains run on time. That was good! I hate being inconvenienced with wait time.