After the Appeals Court ruled the NSA’s mass telephone metadata collection illegal, pundits and congressmen have come out in droves to press their point of view on the issue. I find it hard to understand how anyone could support something that is so obviously in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Even on their own terms, it doesn’t make sense because the Government, after much hemming and hawing, had to admit that they couldn’t point to any examples of their surveillance reaping actionable intelligence1.
If you’re the curious type, you might wonder what’s going on. If you’re a fan of mystery novels, you know the first rule is to follow the money. The//Intercept did that and discovered that the loudest voices in support of the spying have financial incentives. One needn’t be a cynic to find this unsurprising. Doubtless there are honest players who really believe the spying is necessary for our security but many of those supporting the spying are doing so for venal reasons. Keep that in mind the next time you hear someone telling you it’s for your own good.
Footnotes:
Well, they did discover that guy who was collecting money to send to sketchy characters in the Middle East but who here thinks that’s worth having your privacy and constitutional rights trashed?