By demanding near-total security under the blind
expectation that Government can achieve this security via easy means, Americans have embraced
an impossible dynamic. A system that evidently lacks
public support, but simultaneously requires political continuity - leaders understandably fear the
consequences of failing to prevent a terrorist attack. In the space of
this dysfunction, we have leakers like Manning, Snowden and Kiriakou who
assume the right (however tenuous) to shape the contours of national security.
We need to deal with this problem. We need to engage in a serious discussion over the constitution of balance between security and civil liberties. IE - what risks/threats are we willing
to accept and at what price? The internet is facilitating information flows in ever more accessible ways, but we need to realize that criminals and terrorists take advantage of these structures for their own ambitions. Constraining their malevolence is a public policy necessity. We need to move past the short term political actions currently
on display by both Republicans and Democrats.
In many ways, this NSA situation is just another symptom of
our broader national-political disease. By expecting easy choices (wars with tax
cuts), (debt resolution without entitlement reform), (partisanship and national
progress), we've locked ourselves into a false understanding of governance. Matt Lewis had a great piece on this issue a while back.
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