Drake continued, \"The new mantra to intercepting intelligence was 'just get it' regardless of the law.\" <\/p>\n
Shameful. <\/p>\n
It is becoming clear that such a lack of candor from our government officials has become a feature of our post-9\/11 surveillance state, and not a bug. Perhaps the infringements of our freedoms necessitate an end to the entire post-9\/11 project. But with the billion dollar Utah Data Center sitting right-smack in Salt Lake County, it's doubtful we could successfully kill the beast that is the surveillance industry. <\/p>\n
Perhaps we, too, like Jonathan Swift, need \"A Modest Proposal.\" It would be a shame to let the texts, emails, phone records and Google searches of Utah's most popular citizens go to waste. We paid for these records, let's make them public. <\/p>\n
Just think, no one would need private investigators to catch husbands texting old girlfriends. You could easily recover your mom's old meatloaf recipe she emailed years ago. <\/p>\n
And all those public officials who, when under investigation, manage to lose thousands of emails, as one-time IRS official Lois Lerner did. And former Utah Attorney General John Swallow, who just happened to leave his tablets on airplanes. Call up the NSA. Problem solved! <\/p>\n
Think of the money newspapers and community watchdogs would save in GRAMA \/ FOIA requests. And how would life be different if police, prosecutors, legislators and other government officials knew their communications would be discoverable? <\/p>\n
Deception begets deception, poison begets poison. The Fourth Amendment means what it says, and the government should not have power to spy on Americans without a warrant. In this current case, U.S. Department of Justice officials have until March to disclose relevant documents. Let's hope they can do so honestly. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read more: Drake continued, \"The new mantra to intercepting intelligence was 'just get it' regardless of the law.\" Shameful. It is becoming clear that such a lack of candor from our government officials has become a feature of our post-9\/11 surveillance state, and not a bug. Continue reading
\nTribune Editorial: Lawsuit should get to the truth about NSA spying in Utah - Salt Lake Tribune<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"