Big Brother Writ Large in America

by Stephen Lendman

Spying on its citizenry reflects one of the most defining police state characteristics. Post-9/11, America crossed the line.

Unconstitutional mass surveillance became official US policy. Bush began it. Obama accelerated it. He did so straightaway as president.

He promised otherwise. He pledged transparency and openness. He promised no more Bush/Cheney lawlessness. He lied. He exceeded the worst of his predecessors.

Free societies don't tolerate these practices. Obama authorized them secretly. He subverted constitutional law. He violated the public trust. He broke a key campaign pledge.

He declared war on freedom. It's more illusion than reality. It's fast disappearing. It may entirely vanish on Obama's watch. Big Brother is real. It's no longer fiction. Privacy no longer exists.

Web site visits are tracked. Cell phones log our movements. Emails and social network communications are monitored and stored. Sweeping warrantless spying is policy.

Government is shrouded in secrecy. Constitutional protections don't matter. Police states operate this way. America's by far the worst. Everyone's suspect unless proved otherwise. Guilt by accusation is policy.

Snowden provided a vital service. He did so at great risk. Lots of what he revealed was previously known. Too few people knew it. Many more now do. How they react matters most.

On June 17, Snowden engaged live with London Guardian readers. He answered questions they posed.

"All I can say right now is the US government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or ­murdering me. Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped," he said.

"The US government, just as they did with other whistleblowers, immediately and predictably destroyed any possibility of a fair trial at home, openly declaring me guilty of treason and that the disclosure of secret, criminal, and even unconstitutional acts is an unforgivable crime."

"That's not justice, and it would be foolish to volunteer yourself to it if you can do more good outside of prison than in it."

"Ask yourself: If I were a Chinese spy, why wouldn't I have flown directly to Beijing? I could be living in a palace petting a phoenix by now."

More on what he said below. He's a marked man. He knows it. He fled America for his safety. He's in Hong Kong. It provides a "cultural and legal framework to allow me to work without being immediately detained," he said.

He'll be hounded wherever he goes. His life's in danger. Washington called him a traitor.

Bipartisan rogues accused him of espionage. He aided the enemy, they said. A mock show trial was held. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence members did so.

It was called "How Disclosed NSA Programs Protect Americans, and Why Disclosure Aids Our Adversaries." Orwellian best explains it. Rep. Mike Rogers (R. MI) chaired it.

He represents the worst of rogue governance. He menaces freedom. He supports Washington's permanent war agenda. He endorses police state lawlessness. He's against social justice.

Whatever corporate America wants, he's for. He's against government of, by and for everyone.

He calls openness and transparency threats to national security. Sunshine is "damaging," he says. "(I)t paints an inaccurate picture and fosters distrust in government."

It gives aid and comfort to America's enemies, he claims. Snowden's guilty as charged. Rogers and committee co-conspirators hung him out to dry.

He committed no crimes. He exposed them. He did what's vital to do. He revealed US lawlessness. NSA operations harm "millions of innocent people," he said.

He denounced Obama, saying:

"(H)e closed the door on investigating systemic violations of law, deepened and expanded several abusive programs, and refused to spend the political capital to end the kind of human rights violations like we see in Guantanamo, where men still sit without charge."

Dick Cheney duplicitously called him a traitor. Snowden responded, saying:

"It's important to bear in mind I'm being called a traitor by…. a man who gave us the warrantless wiretapping scheme as a kind of atrocity warm-up on the way to deceitfully engineering a conflict that has killed over 4,400 and maimed nearly 32,000 Americans, as well as leaving over 100,000 Iraqis dead."

"Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American."

He did nothing illegal. "I did not reveal any US operations against legitimate military targets."

"I pointed out where the NSA has hacked civilian infrastructure such as universities, hospitals, and private businesses because it is dangerous. These nakedly, aggressively criminal acts are wrong no matter the target."

"NSA is running network operations against (the rights of) millions of innocent people. And for what?"

"So we can have secret access to a computer in a country we're not even fighting? So we can potentially reveal a potential terrorist with the potential to kill fewer Americans than our own Police?"

"No, the public needs to know the kinds of things a government does in its name, or the 'consent of the governed' is meaningless."

More information is coming, Snowden said. Lots more needs to be told.

"(T)he reality is (that) if NSA, FBI, CIA, DIA, etc analyst has access to query raw SIGINT databases, they can enter and get results for anything they want," he said.

"Phone number(s), email(s), user id(s), cell phone handset id(s) (IMEI), and so on - it's all the same. The restrictions against this are policy based, not technically based, and can change at any time."

Lawless surveillance is institutionalized. "The reality is that due to the FISA Amendments Act and its section 702 authorities, Americans