Not Just A River In Egypt

The reaction by the left blogosphere to the revelation of our Democratic surveillance state is nothing short of astonishing, coming in several forms. 1) It’s a made-up Republican scandal for the purpose of discrediting Superman, is therefor fake, and we can respond to it only by calling Republicans bad names. 2a) It’s true, but it’s okay because it’s Superman who is doing it. He is noble and pure of heart and is doing it only to keep us safe. Trust him and shut up. 2b) I’d rather be spied on than be blown up by a terrorist nuclear weapon. 3) It’s horrible but we have to accept it peacefully because both sides are doing it, so shut up and vote for Superman’s party because the other one would be infinitely worse.

One writer even used numbers 1 and 3 in the same post: it’s a fake scandal and we have to accept it because both sides do it. The mind boggles.

My responses are 1) If it’s fake why is Superman instigating such a furious hunt for the treasonous bastard who leaked the programs? 2a) Yeah, right. I’ve already talked about how much I trust someone who claims the right to kill me without due process of law. 2b) I’m also terrified of getting killed by an asteroid, which is more likely that your terrorist. 3) The lesser of two evils is still evil. In a democracy we don’t have to accept anything.

The “terrorist plot” that I've heard cited as having been deflected by this program, or by one of the several programs which have been revealed, regards a guy who was planning to put backpacks on the New York subways. They offer no more detail than that, but you may recall that the guilty behavior that the guy exhibited was that he was visiting too many hair salons. Turns out he was buying his bomb-making materials at these hair salons. I don’t make these things up, the FBI does.

Like the guy who was going to blow up the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan. The evidence was that he had several dozen cell phones which he had recently bought in Detroit. They did not explain how he was going to blow up a major bridge using cell phones, and it turned out he was merely bootlegging cell phones. Good thing we were spying on him.

So, Republicans are outraged over this revelation, but they get outraged over pretty much anything. Democrats are either in denial or are making excuses, but Obama could rob a bank in broad daylight on Pennsylvania Avenue and Democrats would claim he was getting money to feed hungry families. Not his, of course; his family is a long, long way from hungry.

Meanwhile, you might be careful how often you call your hairdresser.