Privacy, shivacy...the failure of conservatism

voanews.com

Jonathan Turley, the law professor from GWU has a good column in today's LA Times about the illegal government surveillance programs that have been recently unearthed. He points out how the government's behavior is exactly the opposite of what it should be:

With regard to its own conduct and information, the administration has fought against the notion of transparency — from refusing to disclose meetings with lobbyists, to denying Congress information needed for oversight, to threatening journalists with prosecution for revealing secret programs such as the NSA domestic surveillance program. Yet, when it comes to citizens, the administration demands total transparency to allow it to monitor everyday transactions and conduct.

I'd like to make one more counterpoint to those reporters who wasted by the "balanced reporting" disease, are prone to whiningly question critics with "But, if the government were open about what they're doing, won't Al Qaeda find out!"

Other than Ben Franklin's response to such naivete -- "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" -- the same argument could be made against domestic criminals who take far more lives than Al Qaeda ever has. Why not trust our security to the local police by surrendering all our freedoms? Presumably the police will secretly monitor all its citizens and ensure no crime takes place. My point is laws have a purpose of informing its citizens what is and what isn't illegal, and how the government goes about its business. As citizens of a participatory democracy, we can only make laws when we know what the government is doing on our behalf. This also dovetails into my earlier post on unchecked military powers.

If the government truly needed surveillance powers because that's the only way it can protect us, there is a forum to request these powers -- it is called Congress. It allows citizens to get informed and involved in the process of making law. What this government has done is use September 11 as an excuse to grab extraordinary powers secretly with no public knowledge or consent. There is no excuse for this -- it is just blatantly illegal and must be stopped.

So, my question is to all high-minded conservatives...what is happening to your brethren in the Republican party, and will you simply standy by and allow this republic to be sacrificed?