Gee, What A Surprise
As Julia would say, the New York Times is “Shocked! Shocked I tell you” to find out that NSA is “hoovering up” everything available, and not being precise in its collection methods. Precision is so…law enforcement. Cops knock on doors; the military knocks down buildings.
Once again: there is a major difference between the military and the police. The police worry about rights; the military doesn’t. The police get in trouble for killing innocent people; the military considers them “collateral damage”.
This difference is why there are so many restrictions about using the military within the United States and outside of the context of a declared war. The Shrubbery wants to convince everyone we are at war, so he can ignore rights and the damage of his actions.
You are not going to do permanent damage to terrorists with the military. You have to hunt down terrorists and that requires investigative tactics not military tactics. This bungling around spying on half the universe and playing with Geiger counters in mosque parking lots is not making us safer, nor is it finding Osama bin Laden. This is the abuse of power just to prove he can do it.
Maybe I should find a portrait of Charles I of England and march outside the White House to remind the resident what the tradition is for men who believe they are absolute monarchs among English-speaking nations. That issue was settled in 1215 and restated to Charles in 1649 prior to his beheading for treason.
