Andrew Napolitano on Snowden's Latest Revelations
In what appears to be one of Edward Snowden's final revelations, the former CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) agent has demonstrated conclusively that the NSA has collected and analyzed the contents of emails, text messages, and phone calls from nine non-targeted U.S. residents for every one U.S. resident it has targeted. This puts the lie to the government's claims that it has only collected metadata and not content from unsuspecting and unsuspected Americans. And it puts the lie to the government's contentions and the opinions of judges of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the NSA's spying is somehow lawful, constitutional, and helpful.
James Madison warned that the loss of liberty rarely happens in one great event but rather happens gradually, over time, resulting from the actions of government officials who claim to be fortifying security. He practically predicted today's events, writes Andrew Napolitano. Yet what Madison probably feared most, he did not articulate: Once lost, liberty is lost forever.