Hoover, Alexander, and The Surveillance
State...
Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them. - Santayana
By J. M. Hamilton. 4-2-2014
In light of a torrent of NSA revelations, many Americans forget that we flirted with a police state in this country once before. How many sitting Presidents did Mr. Hoover, the nation's first FBI Director, blackmail to do his bidding?
We know for a fact that Mr. Hoover had hundreds of dossiers on congressmen, senators, and that his reign spanned several presidencies. His power was unimpeachable because he controlled the nation's largest domestic police apparatus, with the greatest amount of resources. Hoover wielded this power to insure that his bureau, his job, and his boy friend remained protected and ensconced.
Don't take my word for it. President Truman has been quoted as follows in reference to the nation's founding G-Man:
Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them. - Santayana
By J. M. Hamilton. 4-2-2014
In light of a torrent of NSA revelations, many Americans forget that we flirted with a police state in this country once before. How many sitting Presidents did Mr. Hoover, the nation's first FBI Director, blackmail to do his bidding?
We know for a fact that Mr. Hoover had hundreds of dossiers on congressmen, senators, and that his reign spanned several presidencies. His power was unimpeachable because he controlled the nation's largest domestic police apparatus, with the greatest amount of resources. Hoover wielded this power to insure that his bureau, his job, and his boy friend remained protected and ensconced.
Don't take my word for it. President Truman has been quoted as follows in reference to the nation's founding G-Man:
Even more frightening still was that organized crime was said to have the
blackmailed Mr. Hoover. Think about that for a moment. Organized
crime blackmails the blackmailer, so that in theory - if not in practice,
whatever "dirt" Mr. Hoover had on executive administrations, SCOTUS,
or House and Senate leadership and membership, was accessible to organized crime.
Americans today, may wonder why organized crime was said to have walked all over Mr. Hoover... But many historians will tell you that at time when rampant homophobia was the societal norm, some thought it a mental disorder, blackmailing Mr. Hoover and Clyde Tolson was a very real possibility.
So in essence, a democratically elected government was run by the nation's top cop, who was in turn likely controlled by organized crime.
Sound familiar?
Last week saw the retirement of General Alexander, who ran the NSA and Cyber Command, and his reign too, spanned a couple of Presidencies. Mr. Alexander's power was nearly unlimited and his spying, surveillance, and police state apparatus would have been marveled at by Hoover and the German Stasi.
What dossiers did Mr. Alexander have in his possession on democratically elected officials? And who had the "dirt" on Mr. Alexander, so that they had access to his files?
"Paranoid stuff," you argue.
"Not hardly." I respond. "Just look at Mr. Hoover and history."
Even if Mr. Alexander was Mr. Clean, what was to prevent hackers (foreign or domestic; criminal, commercial, or state sponsored) from hacking into the NSA to obtain NSA information?
Possibly by no coincidence last week, at the same time there was a changing of the guard at the NSA, President Obama announced his plans to end mass surveillance. Surveillance that has done so much damage to our relationship with allies, harmed American internet companies and hardware and service providers, and damaged U.S. standing in the world, as the beacon of freedom and democracy.
Like Mr. Hoover before him, make no mistake about it, General Alexander's creation, the post-modern NSA, was, and remains, a threat to our democracy and our freedom. The General stands among many historical figures, who would sacrifice personal freedom, liberty and privacy for specious claims about greater national security.
President Obama is shrewd.... Not only did he do the right thing by proposing to rein in the police state; but, if successful, the President will have also removed a political cudgel from Senator Rand Paul's hand, who has gained traction as a prospective presidential candidate - based upon issues of privacy and freedom.
Of course the NSA isn't the only military branch who is out of line... The CIA has been called on the carpet by Senator Feinstein for hacking into Senate computers. How bad has it become when the primary defender of the faith, and a huge MIIC advocate, calls out the CIA?
When did the MIIC decide that they no longer needed civilian oversight?
Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution makes the POTUS commander-in-chief over the nation's armed forces. This is a good thing. However, this key tenet to our democracy, a tenet that stands between Americans and military rule, is directly threatened by a police and surveillance state. The MIICs power and influence only becomes magnified - exponentially, I would argue, when many of the MIICs duties and responsibilities are subcontracted out to commercial interests. (The profit motive can drive men and women to greater good, and if not monitored by our elected officials, potential national harm.)
President Obama should act unilaterally to rein in MIIC excesses that threaten our democracy, if the Congress fails to act expeditiously to support his efforts. There appears to be many threats to our democracy today, not the least of which are too much concentrated wealth and power, a Citizen's United decision - et al., and our surveillance state.
Americans today, may wonder why organized crime was said to have walked all over Mr. Hoover... But many historians will tell you that at time when rampant homophobia was the societal norm, some thought it a mental disorder, blackmailing Mr. Hoover and Clyde Tolson was a very real possibility.
So in essence, a democratically elected government was run by the nation's top cop, who was in turn likely controlled by organized crime.
Sound familiar?
Last week saw the retirement of General Alexander, who ran the NSA and Cyber Command, and his reign too, spanned a couple of Presidencies. Mr. Alexander's power was nearly unlimited and his spying, surveillance, and police state apparatus would have been marveled at by Hoover and the German Stasi.
What dossiers did Mr. Alexander have in his possession on democratically elected officials? And who had the "dirt" on Mr. Alexander, so that they had access to his files?
"Paranoid stuff," you argue.
"Not hardly." I respond. "Just look at Mr. Hoover and history."
Even if Mr. Alexander was Mr. Clean, what was to prevent hackers (foreign or domestic; criminal, commercial, or state sponsored) from hacking into the NSA to obtain NSA information?
Possibly by no coincidence last week, at the same time there was a changing of the guard at the NSA, President Obama announced his plans to end mass surveillance. Surveillance that has done so much damage to our relationship with allies, harmed American internet companies and hardware and service providers, and damaged U.S. standing in the world, as the beacon of freedom and democracy.
Like Mr. Hoover before him, make no mistake about it, General Alexander's creation, the post-modern NSA, was, and remains, a threat to our democracy and our freedom. The General stands among many historical figures, who would sacrifice personal freedom, liberty and privacy for specious claims about greater national security.
President Obama is shrewd.... Not only did he do the right thing by proposing to rein in the police state; but, if successful, the President will have also removed a political cudgel from Senator Rand Paul's hand, who has gained traction as a prospective presidential candidate - based upon issues of privacy and freedom.
Of course the NSA isn't the only military branch who is out of line... The CIA has been called on the carpet by Senator Feinstein for hacking into Senate computers. How bad has it become when the primary defender of the faith, and a huge MIIC advocate, calls out the CIA?
When did the MIIC decide that they no longer needed civilian oversight?
Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution makes the POTUS commander-in-chief over the nation's armed forces. This is a good thing. However, this key tenet to our democracy, a tenet that stands between Americans and military rule, is directly threatened by a police and surveillance state. The MIICs power and influence only becomes magnified - exponentially, I would argue, when many of the MIICs duties and responsibilities are subcontracted out to commercial interests. (The profit motive can drive men and women to greater good, and if not monitored by our elected officials, potential national harm.)
President Obama should act unilaterally to rein in MIIC excesses that threaten our democracy, if the Congress fails to act expeditiously to support his efforts. There appears to be many threats to our democracy today, not the least of which are too much concentrated wealth and power, a Citizen's United decision - et al., and our surveillance state.
P.S.
One of the great things about the majority of Americans finally recognizing that homosexual conduct, and marijuana use, is neither criminal nor aberrant, is that these are two behaviors that politicians, indeed all Americans, can no longer be blackmailed for.... unless of course, one is a Republican politician.
One of the best anti-monopoly/anti-cartel pieces written all year: Washington Post, Catherine Rampell - Comcast- Time Warner Cable merger is a bad deal.
Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2014
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