Sen. Frank Church was right when he warned Americans of the National Security Agency's power of surveillance. He said Americans would have no ability to resist should our government become a tyranny.
"There would be no place to hide," he wrote. "If this government ever became a tyranny, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny ..."
Church made these statements 37 years ago. He warned us before we had cellphones and the Internet. He warned us before the Patriot Act. He warned us before the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security were an idea in anyone's mind.
The most casual among the politically aware would know the government has made leaps in its quest to more effectively monitor you, the American.
The global war on terrorism has not been kind to American's privacy. The choice between liberty and security has always been a difficult one, but in a world where the terrorist is a constant fear of both the government and the people, there seems to be no choice to make.
Americans are apparently convinced that they must give the government access to their lives in order to keep the country safe. The opposite is true. We are more at risk from a government that has nothing to fear from the people.
Our liberty can be snatched away by a government that can access our financial, medical and personal information as long as they deem us "suspicious." The CIA, FBI, NSA, TSA and DHS have been given the power to collect and store all forms of communication and information.
If you're "suspicious" and send an email, the government can read it. If you go to an ATM, the government can know how much you withdrew. If you make a call, the government can listen.
The government has the ability to subject us to "total tyranny," as Church put it.
We're concerned by this ability to constantly survey the American people. We believe there is less risk to our freedom by foregoing some of these measures of security.
It's not unreasonable to suppose that our government, like almost all of the world's governments before it, could be consumed by ambitious individuals not restrained by the rule of law. If that were to happen, the powers of surveillance and detention would become terrifying.
We believe it's up to the people to take this power back from the government. The Patriot Act must not be extended. The government must not be allowed to permanently detain citizens. It must not be able to track our cellphones and credit cards and emails on a mere "suspicion."
Church's apt understanding of the potential tyranny of government wasn't the first time such a warning has been given. Benjamin Franklin, along with most of the Founders, believed liberty is more essential than security.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both," Franklin said.
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