Snowden Pros And Cons

In 2001, the Bush Administration authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to launch a wiretapping program which congress ratified and expanded. This new wiretapping program gave the NSA power to monitor Americans international phone calls and emails without the need of a warrant. The new program goes against an act that was passed in the 1960’s and 70’s. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This act, which was enacted by congress, regulated the NSA conduct of intelligent surveillance inside the United States and generally required the NSA to seek warrants before monitoring American’s communications. After bush passed the new law in 2008 many lawyers, labor rights activists, human rights activists, legal and media organizations

Is Snowden an enemy for informing the world of how the US keeps tags on them, or is he a hero for letting the American people know that their 4th amendment is being violated? Some can argue that America’s enemies didn’t need Snowden to inform them, groups such as al-Qaeda have long since figured that out. Because it is almost certain that enemies already know about what Snowden revealed, the only thing he did wrong was violate his oath, and the NSA’s oath of secrecy trumps his belief that the NSA’s activities were an unconstitutional threat to the American people. Even though the NSA’s oath trumps Snowden’s beliefs, it does not mean that what the oath is protecting is constitutional. The National Security Agency has been keeping many people out of the dark for years about their policies. How can congress conduct their constitution oversight of the Executive branch if the agencies lie about what is going on? How can American voters make smart decisions if they are misinformed about its activities? As I discussed this issue with co- workers, some didn’t comprehend the importance of Snowden’s information. They all stated that we as American’s should not worry about the government looking into our business if we have nothing to hide. However, on June 12, 2013 Rand Paul explained the importance best when he stated” In the United States, we are supposed to have a government that is limited with its parameters established by our constitution. This notion that the federal government can monitor everyone’s phone data is a major departure from how Americans have traditionally viewed the role of the government. If this is acceptable practice, as the white house and many in both parties now say it is, then there are literally no constitutional protections that can be guaranteed anymore to citizens. In the name of security, the Constitution has become negotiable.” Because of this, the American