Liberty v. Security

This morning Kevin Drum warned us not to get to charged up about the article in the morning NY Times. In that piece, the Times found that the NSA surveillance info had been turned over to the FBI which wasted an enormous amount of time chasing down blind leads. In the end, it looks as though the effort did more harm than good by occupying everyone's valuable time with wild goose chases. Drum argues that the effectiveness of the program is not the point. The point is it's illegal.

I agree and disagree. Since the Bushies have tried to sell the program on the basis that it is essential to protect national security, proving that it is ineffective is certainly worth doing. It undercuts their most important selling point -- the selling point based on fear.

These guys need to use fear to win. In effect they're saying liberty doesn't count for anything if you're dead -- the exact opposite of "give me liberty or give me death." We need a slogan to make this point -- something like "Better red than dead," but I haven't yet come up with it.

Yes, the real problem here is the President's position that he is above the law. Yes, we might well agree that a properly supervised (and properly managed) domestic surveillance program might be necessary. But, if the illegal program that this government has conducted is also a complete waste, that point is certainly worth making.