185 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 116 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 1/14/14

The Presidential Task Force on the NSA, A Diversionary Tactic Not Meant to Uncover All The Wrongdoing

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   No comments

Dave Lefcourt
Message Dave Lefcourt
Become a Fan
  (21 fans)

What seems par for the course in America, after a serious trauma affects the nation such as the Kennedy assassination or 9/11 or now over revelations of government wrongdoing exposed by Edward Snowden's whistleblowing of the NSA's collection of electronic communications of just about everyone here and abroad, what usually happens is the president calls for a commission to investigate.

Call it something to soothe the public's anguish, (Kennedy and 9/11) or indignation over violation of people's privacy rights (NSA) but in reality these commissions are a sideshow, a diversionary tactic where the investigation isn't thorough and complete and the truth behind the wrongdoing is far from being discovered.

As to the latest commission, a presidential task force looking into the NSA's data mining operation, has recently concluded there is no evidence in any instance where the NSA's snooping operations prevented a terrorist attack. None!

But even so this task force's investigation was too limited in scope and wouldn't go near the question of whether the NSA's activities violated the Constitution's 4 th Amendment protection against the government's illegal search and seizure.

Yet now we're hearing many of Obama's closest advisors are embracing the idea that one of the NSA's data collection programs could have prevented the 9/11 attacks if the government at the time had the vast storage of telephone records it holds now. No surprise; when in a pinch always play the 9/11 terrorism card.

Though President Obama has yet to make his judgment known, need we guess what the final outcome will be? More on that a little later.

Looking back in time the closest example of a real investigation by government these old eyes have witnessed were the hearings held by then Senator Sam Irvin of North Carolina in 1972 and 73 over President Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal. Irvin's hearings and the likelihood of Nixon's impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate forced him to resign.

Shortly thereafter, then Senator Frank Church of Idaho held hearings about the governments clandestine surveillance activities, (including the NSA) at the time and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the FISA Court was born in 1978 to oversee and approve specific requests to wiretap suspects with evidence presented justifying the government's actions. That was then.

Some 36 years later we now know the FISA Court has essentially become a rubber stamp for the government spooks to do as they please as almost all requests are approved without dissent and no oversight of the Court's decisions.

Then with Bush after 9/11, his mob decided to just bi-pass the FISA Court entirely and warrantless wiretapping became the norm.

Now the Snowden revelations about the NSA have shook the current administration to the core as trust in the U.S. government intentions from friend and foe alike is at an all time low.

So what else, there's a call for a presidential commission to investigate.

But really, there's never been a presidential commission that did a thorough, no holds barred investigation of every aspect, every possible witness whether it was the Warren Commission Report on the Kennedy assassination or the presidential commission investigating 9/11.

Both reports were dubious in their findings and left more questions than they answered.

From here, these commission type investigations were never intended to get to the bottom of what really happened and who were the real perpetrators.

And now we have the latest presidential commission looking into the NSA's massive secret data collecting operations.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Dave Lefcourt Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Retired. The author of "DECEIT AND EXCESS IN AMERICA, HOW THE MONEYED INTERESTS HAVE STOLEN AMERICA AND HOW WE CAN GET IT BACK", Authorhouse, 2009
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

An Ominous Foreboding, Israel vs Iran

The Evolving Populist Political Rebellion in the Arab World

A Nuclear War Would Be Insane

The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Get Poorer, While the Middle Class Gets Decimated

CIA in the Crosshairs

Iran Offers 9 Point Plan to end Nuclear Crisis, U.S. "No thanks".

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend