American citizens were upset at the news last week that the National Security Agency was secretly collecting phone record information for all calls on the Verizon network. Under the terms of a “blanket order,” the numbers of both parties, the location data, the call duration and other information was being collected.
While it is true that the contents of the calls were not recorded, people were understandable concerned about the amount of information that was collected about them. Information on any call to, from, and within the United States was in the database.
Many members of Congress have also complained. Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall protested to Attorney General Eric Holder. They said: “There is now a significant gap between what most Americans think the law allows and what the government secretly claims the law allows.”
How should we respond to this intrusion into our lives? Even before the NSA spying scandal, Joseph Farah was suggesting that Congress use the NSA to investigate the government. Essentially he has been calling for Congress to turn the tables on the Surveillance State.
He says that Congress doesn’t have to wait on the White House, the IRS, the Justice Department, or the State Department to turn over documents related to Benghazi, Fast and Furious, Reportergate, or the IRS scandal. He says Congress should subpoena the National Security Agency for the information they already have. After all, they monitor phone calls and emails. Congress doesn’t have to beg the perpetrators of these crimes for information they may never hand over to congressional committees. Nor does it have to battle over executive privilege.
This would not only be a way to collect the information necessary to investigate these scandals. It would also give Big Brother a taste of his own medicine. If NSA phone records and emails of the government were made public, I think there would be a loud outcry from government officials about the intrusive nature of the Surveillance State. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.