Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Fourth Amendment - Written on Tissue Paper

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

It doesn't take an expert in Constitutional law to see the flagrant violations by the NSA.  However, the same people who carry machine guns and say this is supported by the Constitution have nothing whatever to say about search and seizure.  It shouldn't take an intellectual giant to realise if the government will come to take your guns then illegal search and seizure is the mechanism by which they will effect it.

In case you're thinking what the NSA is doing applies only to the United States, the report on their program, Boundless Informant, should clarify that matter.  The NSA isn't only compromising the U.S. Constitution but rather they're breaking laws around the world.  (The Guardian:  Boundless Informant: the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data)

The NSA is far from the only intelligence-gathering organisation in the United States.  The FBI and the CIA get a great deal of press coverage but one that should be covered in egg after the Iraq fiasco is the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency).  Before you go muttering about a Republican police state, do keep in mind the President who instituted the DIA was Kennedy, the One True God of Liberals.  There are no politics to what is happening as both parties have been driving it and it has been going on for a very long time.

As to how many other intelligence agencies may be operating in the U.S., it's impossible to determine.  The security budget is not released in the national budget as, presumably, it is classified.  That's quite convenient for Washington, isn't it.

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