Matthew's Journal

I’m sure most people reading this have heard or read in the news, at least at some point, that the NSA has been illegally tapping the phones of American in an effort to collect intelligence on potential terrorists. This has caused no small amount of uproar in the press and even in a few everyday Americans. Critics claim that the whole debacle is an abuse of power and a gross invasion of privacy while others support the NSA’s action claiming the need to bend the rules in the name of security.

Observing the press coverage led me to consider how I really felt about this issue. Do I want the government listening in on my calls and invading my privacy? Not really. Do I understand the need to break a few rules if it mean potentially saving hundreds or thousands of lives? Sure. I find myself feeling rather indifferent about the whole thing considering that I haven’t personally been involved as far as I can tell. However, there is one aspect of all of this that leaves me feeling quite upset. The NSA got caught.

The NSA is one of the world’s premier intelligence gathering organizations. Millions, if not billions, of taxpayer dollars go to support this organization that we trust to help secure the safety and wellbeing of this nation and its citizens. We enable the NSA to hire the best and the brightest and they can’t even tap a simple telephone without getting caught. If they can’t even tap a few phones in their own backyard without getting caught, how can we trust the NSA and its sister agencies to protect our interests? I expect a competent NSA to be able to tap everyone’s phone and have no one the wiser. Do I like having my rights violated? No. Do I expect my government’s elite information gathering agencies to do their jobs and do them well? You’re damn right I do. Breaking some rules is one thing, being completely incompetent is something I don’t want to abide in the organization entrusted with my safety.