[PLUG-TALK] Surveillance, elections, media, and blackmail

[Paul Heinlein]

On Thu, 25 Jul 2013, Keith Lofstrom wrote:

> With all the concerns about the government spying on ordinary
> citizens, I haven't seen much press about a bigger threat -
> government spying on government.  More specifically, intelligence
> agencies spying on elected representatives.
>
> At first blush, this seems good, yes?  We get to find out who the
> bad guys are, and not elect them.  But if the bar for "bad guy"
> is set too low, it quickly descends below the level of the average
> citizen.  And that opens the door for egregious manipulation of
> the political process by intelligence agencies whose budgets
> and powers are decided upon by the politicians elected by that
> political process.

Agreed, and completely. We've been down that road before:

   http://lmgtfy.com/?q=J+Edgar+Hoover

-- 
Paul Heinlein
heinlein at madboa.com
45°38' N, 122°6' W