I’m probably not the only one that jokes about this. I think to myself, if they’re so bored, let them listen in, I’m not threatening national security. Sometimes I’ll say to a friend on the phone, “Shhh – the NSA is listening and we start laughing. That’s my immediate sentiment, but should we be more concerned?

We learned not long ago from a 60 Minutes exposé that the NSA has been collecting – and storing – telephone & internet data (phone calls, texts, e-mails etc.) on hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting users. All of this came to light because of a disgruntled NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, who leaked thousands of pages of highly classified documents detailing how the agency is doing this.

In plain English: our government is spying on us. And it’s not a left vs. right or a liberal vs. conservative issue either. These clandestine activities have been conducted under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barrack Obama, and, it appears to be a clear violation of the 4^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The 4^th amendment protects individual citizens against illegal search & seizure by their government. TV shows like Law & Order and NCIS show how detectives must first get a search warrant before they search the property or premises of a suspect in a criminal case. If they skip that important step, and the case goes to trial and is successful in getting a conviction, the whole case can be thrown out.

The NSA has been doing the same thing but on a colossal scale and without any search warrants. In the 60 Minutes interview, NSA officials argue that it’s necessary for the ongoing war against global terrorism, – – but still, is this not a prime example of government overreach? A case of Big Brother watching over us? And more importantly, what other stuff are they doing that we don’t know about and where does this all stop?

Obviously, many texts, e-mails, & calls will be about love and heartache but some will no doubt be about illicit sexual affairs. Still, it appears that the average person on the street doesn’t give a rat’s furry behind if their calls are being listened to.

What’s funny to me (both ha-ha and philosophically) is that some members of Congress were outraged when they found out that they themselves were the targets of these global eavesdropping efforts by the NSA. It’s funny because, my understanding is that Congress itself was the one who quietly granted broad authority to the NSA for these clandestine activities in 2008.

Did they think they were immune from their own laws? Hmmm, I wonder what’s going through their minds now. What goes around . . . eventually comes around.   P.W.