{"id":39901,"date":"2012-11-16T00:14:47","date_gmt":"2012-11-16T07:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=39901"},"modified":"2014-12-30T11:01:39","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T18:01:39","slug":"the-peoples-democratic-national-security-state-of-heaven-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2012\/11\/the-peoples-democratic-national-security-state-of-heaven-25.html","title":{"rendered":"The People’s Democratic National Security State of Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

eats its own in an exquisite act of justice<\/a>.\u00a0 Even an atheist like Glenn Greenwald can only barely be restrained from seeing the hand of God in it:<\/p>\n

It is usually the case that abuses of state power become a source for concern and opposition only when they begin to subsume the elites who are responsible for those abuses. Recall how former Democratic Rep. Jane Harman \u2013 one of the most outspoken defenders of the illegal Bush National Security Agency (NSA) warrantless eavesdropping program \u2013 suddenly began sounding like an irate, life-long ACLU privacy activist<\/a> when it was revealed that the NSA had eavesdropped on her private communications<\/a> with a suspected Israeli agent over alleged attempts to intervene on behalf of AIPAC officials accused of espionage. Overnight, one of the Surveillance State\u2019s chief assets, the former ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, transformed into a vocal privacy proponent because now it was her activities, rather than those of powerless citizens, which were invaded.<\/p>\n

With the private, intimate activities of America\u2019s most revered military and intelligence officials being smeared all over newspapers and televisions for no good reason, perhaps similar conversions are possible. Put another way, having the career of the beloved<\/a> CIA Director and the commanding general in Afghanistan instantly destroyed due to highly invasive and unwarranted electronic surveillance is almost enough to make one believe not only that there is a god, but that he is an ardent civil libertarian.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You live, right now, in a\u00a0lawless police surveillance state where the only thing protecting you is lack of manpower\u00a0and some vestigial custom and culture.\u00a0 That state can not only probe into the most intimate details of your life on a whim,\u00a0it can jail you forever and even kill you on the whim of the Executive as well.<\/p>\n

Feel safe, or you may be an enemy of the State<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

eats its own in an exquisite act of justice.\u00a0 Even an atheist like Glenn Greenwald can only barely be restrained from seeing the hand of God in it: It is usually the case that abuses of state power become a source for concern and opposition only when they begin to subsume the elites who are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[60],"class_list":["post-39901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-the-growing-police-state"],"yoast_head":"\nThe People's Democratic National Security State of Heaven<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"eats its own in an exquisite act of justice.\u00a0 Even an atheist like Glenn Greenwald can only barely be restrained from seeing the hand of God in it: It is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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