Placidly Being Beheaded

PRESIDENT OBAMA and the National Security Agency are now openly admitting that the United States does do just a wee bit of eavesdropping on a few folks in Europe, Latin America, and other places, and this is progress. Previously they denied the spying altogether, then they claimed to know nothing about it. So you can plainly see the usual psychological progression from shock, anger, denial, and on into acceptance and rationalization. Good to know that our President and "Intelligence" Community fit so neatly into the standard human psychological profile, isn't it? We are now in the rationalization phase, for those who stepped out for coffee, and missed the latest. Yeah, we do it, but, well, really, its harmless, and it is vital to protect our country and our allies, and we Americans really aren't the ones doing it, its mostly the, um, Europeans. How strange for me personally, to've become a democrat because of Richard Nixon, then to see him back in office, forty years later! The way to ferret out all terrorists is to listen to every phone call everyone makes. The way to find all escaped criminals and traitors is to knock on everybody's door with a search warrant. Long live King George the third! He who would trade a little liberty for a little security deserves neither, sayeth Ben Franklin. And sayeth Thomas Jefferson, that the tree of liberty will need to be nourished from timt to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots. Substtite for the word "patriot" the term "masses of people, fighting for freedom from tyranny",and the truth is told. One can be patriotic to a country which tyrannizes its people as well as to one which protects them from tyranny. Patriotism is very flexible, a very good tool by which the few can control the many. Citizens Against Tyranny (CAT) is a better term than "patriot". Your national security apparatus, protecting you! And to think, I was once shocked at the sight of cattle lining up placidly to be beheaded.