A Newer, More Transparent NSA

Last night I stayed up until 2am here in the Philippines to watch Obama's speech on how he was going to fix the National Security Agency. It was a tedious speech that rambled the long way around the barn before getting to the point. Obama kept curling his lips around his teeth and then smacking them before beginning the next sentence, which about half way through became really obnoxious. The basic problem with it is that there isn't a thing he says that can be trusted, and this speech, when you look closely at what was said, doesn't give any assurance that anything is going to change for the better.

In 2008 Obama campaigned against NSA domestic spying as being criminal. Then he moved into the White House and increased domestic spying a thousand fold. The left has called the NSA practice of listening to and collecting billions of domestic phone records a phony scandal, but it has grown so big now that Obama can no longer ignore it. In his address he laid out a plan to reign in the NSA. Or did he?

He started out with a rehearsal of the spying and intelligence services in American history. He spoke of Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty prior to the American Revolution, the Union army using balloons in the Civil War, the code-breakers in World War 2, and modern technologies that have grown since 9/11. It all sounded so good, but considering how little he seems to know about actual American history, all I could think was, I wonder who wrote this speech for him?

His historical review missed the whole point. The Sons of Liberty were spying on the occupying British troops. Union balloons were used to spy on the Confederate army. The code-breakers in World War 2 were intercepting Japanese messages about war plans. Even the Bush "domestic spying" was on phone calls between known and suspected terrorists and required warrants before they could listen in. None of these were an invasion of American homes or private conversations, which is what is happening now.

Obama listed four changes he is making to the NSA. These are not helpful. Briefly, the first grants Obama more executive power. The second calls for a more transparent NSA. The third puts restrictions on our foreign intelligence gathering, and the fourth puts the Attorney General in charge of overseeing all the collected domestic data. Then he said Congress needs to act because there is little he can do by executive order. As if that's ever stopped him before. Interestingly enough, I listened to the Fox News analysts immediately after the speech and to more comments this morning, and I've yet to hear any of them discuss any of these four items. They need to be discussed because they are dangerous.

Obama has already assumed executive powers that the Constitution does not allow, and is acting more like a dictator than a president. He's only strengthening his hand by assuming more. The NSA more transparent? Coming from the "most transparent" president in history? That's laughable at best, and insulting at worst. Next, he told the world how he is going to restrict our intelligence services from gathering data. He said he would limit the NSA from tracking phone calls to only a party two calls removed from the original rather than a third which they do now. How is that going to help our national security? He talked about the damage Edward Snowden did, but it doesn't even compare. Obama just gave away our intelligence service strategy to the world.

Then, putting the Attorney General in charge of the illegally collected domestic data is like putting the proverbial fox in the hen house. This is the criminal behind Fast and Furious, who won't prosecute black criminals or deport illegal aliens, who is at war with states trying to increase their own security. This is the guy who just yesterday warned public school teachers not to discipline black or other minority students in their classrooms. This is a man who cannot be trusted to do anything in a non-partisan way.

Obama tried to reassure us by saying we "don't spy on ordinary people who are not a threat to our national security." Oh yeah? What about the IRS scandal targeting conservatives and anyone who dares say a word against the administration? Holder has apparently directed the FBI not to investigate the IRS while he puts a very partisan Obama donor in charge of the inquiry. This in itself is a scandal.

Obama concluded that these changes are necessary for the United States to remain true to who we are in a changing world. The truth is we haven't been true to who we are since Obama was elected, and these changes aren't going to help get us there.