The
electorate, in primal wisdom, has told them to cool it, as a new poll shows 57
percent believe “leaks about the surveillance programs would not affect the
ability of the United States to prevent future terrorist attacks” after 56
percent had called phone tracking an acceptable tactic.
In
the light of such attitudes, the likes of John Boehner have turned on a dime.
After first challenging the President to “explain” the NSA revelations, the
Speaker is now leading the pack calling Snowden “a traitor.”
As
most Democrats like Al Franken line up to back the programs, their GOP
counterparts are rushing to outdo them in patriotic fervor, with good old
reliable Lindsey Graham proclaiming he wouldn’t mind having the government
snoop on his snail mail.
As he
often does, Thomas Friedman reflects the mixed feelings that most rational
Americans can’t avoid:
“Yes,
I worry about potential government abuse of privacy from a program designed to
prevent another 9/11--abuse that, so far, does not appear to have happened. But
I worry even more about another 9/11...
“I
worry about that even more, not because I don’t care about civil liberties, but
because what I cherish most about America is our open society, and I believe
that if there is one more 9/11--or worse, an attack involving nuclear
material--it could lead to the end of the open society as we know it...I fear
that 99 percent of Americans would tell their members of Congress: ‘Do whatever
you need to do to, privacy be damned, just make sure this does not happen
again.’ That is what I fear most.”
Behind
all the posturing that will go on for a few more days, that has to be at the
core of our concern, even if most politicians, unlike the public, won’t face it.
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