DJ_Skrilla
02-19-2006, 12:15 AM
Well said... Link (http://www.hendersondispatch.com/articles/2006/02/15/news/letters/let01.txt)
To the editor:
I moved to Henderson quite recently. For the past several weeks, both in your paper and on the TV news, I have watched the debate over the warrant-less communications monitoring by the president and NSA.
Most present-day voters are too young to remember Joe McCarthy and the Red Scares of the fifties.
Most present-day voters are too young to remember that J. Edgar Hoover used illegal spying by the FBI to blackmail many congressmen.
Most present-day voters are too young to remember the Nixon Impeachment and the fact that one of the major issues then was illegal spying, justified by the White House on “national security” grounds.
Most present-day voters are too young to remember that FISA (and other laws) were enacted specifically in response to these abuses, and that there is a thing in this nation called a Constitution and a Bill of Rights.
I lived through those things and remember them well.
Most people do not realize that it takes longer for a good analyst to determine whether a lead from communications monitoring is worth following up than it takes for FISA to decide the case.
I served over 30 years commissioned service (active and reserve) and spent the rest of my professional career in the defense industry. I know what “national security” means. When I hung up my “blue suit” I did not hang up my oath to defend the Constitution. President Bush's current program is a violation of the Constitution and does not improve national security - it is a blatant grab for power.
Col. H. Larry Elman, USAF (Ret.)
Henderson
To the editor:
I moved to Henderson quite recently. For the past several weeks, both in your paper and on the TV news, I have watched the debate over the warrant-less communications monitoring by the president and NSA.
Most present-day voters are too young to remember Joe McCarthy and the Red Scares of the fifties.
Most present-day voters are too young to remember that J. Edgar Hoover used illegal spying by the FBI to blackmail many congressmen.
Most present-day voters are too young to remember the Nixon Impeachment and the fact that one of the major issues then was illegal spying, justified by the White House on “national security” grounds.
Most present-day voters are too young to remember that FISA (and other laws) were enacted specifically in response to these abuses, and that there is a thing in this nation called a Constitution and a Bill of Rights.
I lived through those things and remember them well.
Most people do not realize that it takes longer for a good analyst to determine whether a lead from communications monitoring is worth following up than it takes for FISA to decide the case.
I served over 30 years commissioned service (active and reserve) and spent the rest of my professional career in the defense industry. I know what “national security” means. When I hung up my “blue suit” I did not hang up my oath to defend the Constitution. President Bush's current program is a violation of the Constitution and does not improve national security - it is a blatant grab for power.
Col. H. Larry Elman, USAF (Ret.)
Henderson