by Joseph P. Tartaro | Executive Editor 
The year ending in a couple of weeks as we go to press with the last issue of 1213 has been marked by some strange political shenanigans, particularly as it involves information, or more correctly intelligence.
The WikiLeaks scandal broke months ago and high officials in the US government, particularly any agency or cabinet department associated with information, or intelligence gathering, has been busier than a cat with diarrhea covering things up.
Then Edward Snowden dropped an even bigger bombshell, revealing in part some of the extremes of the National Security Agency (NSA) electronic and telephonic spying on American citizens and just about anyone else in the world, including the heads of state of some of America’s leading allies.
Snowden, now dodging US government prosecution in Russia, risked everything to expose the secret NSA spying program of our phone calls and emails. Now he’s been formally charged with violating the Espionage Act—the same law used to charge Bradley Manning, who provided information to WikiLeaks.
Snowden’s revelations confirmed the suspicions of millions of Americans who suspected that “Big Brother” was pretty much always listening in. They also awakened those who never gave a thought about he their privacy before.
The US government wants to treat Snowden like a antagonistic foreign spy, and many Americans, deeply concerned about their security rather than their privacy rights, seem to agree. But there are who lot of other Americans to whom Snowden is a hero.
Indeed, it is now possible to buy Snowden T-shirts and other memorabilia, like you might for a rock star.
Besides the massive accumulation of private, corporate and governmental phone and email communications in the US, it has been revealed that the NSA has been eavesdropping on the phone and Internet traffic of not just foreign governments, but individual foreign leaders.
While all governments maintain intelligence surveillance of practically every other government, the US seems to have gone quite a few steps beyond the norm, sucking up information from just about every possible public or private source.
Although other governments, such as Germany and the United Kingdom, have probably also been engaged in the same types of information gathering, they were “shocked, shocked,” like Capt. Renault in the movie “Casablanca,” to know the USA was spying on them, or genuinely by the immensity of the NSA operation.
Like it or not, the immensity of the US spy activities, has been going on even as the Obama administration has been trying to sell Americans and citizens of other countries that it was going to be a supremely good neighbor.
The Obama crowd criticized the Bush administration for following a policy that caused other nations, particularly our allies, to be less than friendly to the US. Obama and his editorial supporters claimed that he would restore international respect for the US.
The NSA spying, however, seems to have done the opposite, even though few government officials or their chorus in the media will really admit it.
Nevertheless, the US Department of Justice, under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, is closing in on Snowden, not so much because it wants to punish the whistleblower himself, but to send another and firmer message to possible other future whistleblowers who work for the government. In attempting to manage its image and the news, the Obama administration has never taken kindly to whistleblowers, regardless of the federal agencies they worked for.
Just ask what happened to ATF whistleblowers that went public on the Fast and Furious fiasco a couple of years ago. They seemed to have suffered more than those who botched the government’s scheme.
Now, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has stepped forward to ask for a fair, constitutional trial if Snowden ever does come to trial.
Ever zealous in guarding the right to privacy, the ACLU says “we need to raise our voices to ensure that Snowden is treated fairly and legally, and that the massive abuse of government power, that he risked his safety to expose, finally comes to an end.
Even though I have my doubts about the NSA doing anything more than hiding quietly until all the fuss blows over, we must understand that the governments use of such extraordinary surveillance technology does more than threaten our individual privacy, our right to free association, our right to travel, and our right to be free from fear, especially of the government.
Public reaction has not been very loud, but it is very prevalent, perhaps has been manifested best by the continuing drop in Obama’s popularity.
With the NSA listening in, perhaps American citizens have shifted more to speaking as far as possible out of NSA eye and earshot.
Meanwhile, concerns about the government spying—not just by the US but by other governments as well— have spread beyond the insular world of private citizens.
The US spying campaign has now seeped into other private and public enterprises. Not only has it affected US relations with other nations, but it may also affect America’s ability to do business abroad at a time when the economy is still so fragile.
Coupled with the government shutdown, which most in other parts of the world understand less than American citizens, the spying is severely straining the US reputation abroad. The changes taking place are not just public statements that make headlines, but revisions to the policies of other governments and industries.
There have already been serious concerns voiced abroad about the political and commercial repercussions to the NSA spying. The changes will not just affect Facebook and Google, but all data companies, banking, marketers, manufacturers and others.
The European Union has already taken some big steps toward data protection, even if the changes are not all successful yet. You may even discover that you won’t be able to access all of the information sources you once utilized. But you can still expect that more changes are likely to come, and there is little evidence that the government will back off its intelligence gathering program.
A lot of things have been happening in 2013, some good and some bad as far as a citizens’ right to self-protection goes, but the eavesdropping story is more subtle than many other news, and should continue to be watched as we move into a new year.
Best to all of you from all of us for the Holidays and a better 2014.
