The latest revelations on intelligence gathering by the U.S. National Security Agency have made for some strange political bedfellows. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has been called a hero and a traitor by folks on both sides of the political spectrum for leaking information on government access to millions of phone records. I don't see any heroes so far in this story. While President Obama has assured the American people that the government has not been listening to calls without a warrant, I am doubtful of his assertion that Congress has been closely consulted over this activity. While some of this information has evidently been useful in preventing more terrorist attacks, governmental checks and balances - and as much personal privacy as possible - must be preserved. Without that, what makes us any better than China? By the way, should it come as all that surprising that the U.S. has been giving China a dose of its own medicine by hacking their computers? I find a lot of the indignation on both sides a bit unbelievable. No matter who's in power, we need to achieve a balance. We also need to make whistleblowers feel they have recourse within our own system. Compromising intelligence was the wrong way to go, but it's not all about Mr. Snowden. It's about what kind of balance we want between freedom and security. Both sides of the argument have gotten very heavy handed.
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