While the country has been laying the blame for illegal N.S.A. domestic spying on a run-away Administration, the Administration has been claiming that the N.S.A. is constantly scrutinized by all three major branches of government: the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch and the Congress. Last Thursday, the WASHINGTON POST proved all three claims to be a fallacy. The revelations by Edward Snowden prove that the Executive Branch has not been supervising what goes on at N.S.A.
The Post presents a second article
in which the Chief Judge of the FISA Court admits that the court is
unable to act as a watchdog or stop the NSA’s abuses: “The FISC is
forced to rely upon the accuracy of the information that is provided to
the Court,” its chief, US District Judge Reggie B. Walton, said in a written statement. “The FISC does not have the capacity to investigate issues of noncompliance.” So much for judicial oversight.
Finally, if you can believe anybody on the Hill, Congress is claiming that they didn't know of the extent of the domestic spying, either. Various committees which should be doing oversight activities are not meeting at all and members are being kept in the dark about N.S.A. activities.
In trying to worm out of it's failures, the N.S.A. says the thousands of instances of illegal domestic spying each year since 2008 have been due to "accident" and should therefore be disregarded. Various Congressional leaders, such as Peter King and John McCain, insist the country doesn't have anything to worry about and we need to continue the N.S.A. program in order to protect our national security.
I say that the only mistake involved here is that we have the wrong people in political offices in Congress and the White House. And, I wonder just how many of those "accidental spying incidents" involved political enemies of the President.
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