Big Red Car here. Prolific thinking going on here in the ATX. We seem to be bombarded by progressively more troubling revelations.
The Boss was harping on this just today.
Where has the American sense of outrage and shock gone?
The Big Red Car thinks it has gone to Mexico for the summer and is surfing down along the Pacific coast around Escondido’s Zicatela Beach perhaps?
Does any of this outrage or shock you?
Hey, you, Big Red Car here. Do you have any capacity for shock or outrage? Can you still summon it up? Or are you completely anesthetized and brain dead?
1. Does the notion of a convicted murderer abortionist collecting aborted fetus feet outrage or shock you?
2. Does the idea that the IRS is using its powers as the Nation’s tax collector to jerk around political opponents of the current regime shock or outrage you?
3. Does the fact that four Americans are dead and nobody can account for the presence of the President or answer why help was not sent outrage or shock you?
4. Does the fact that the entire Middle East is aflame and we have just decided to stick our nose into the bee hive known as Syria shock or outrage you?
5. Does the fact that we are no closer to solving the Iranian and North Korean nuclear proliferation issues outrage or shock you?
6. Does the fact that the NSA — apparently with the cooperation of the biggest brands on the Internet — is collecting your phone calls, email, social media activity, medical prescriptions, licenses and every single piece of digital data on YOU without probably cause and intends to store it forever shock or outrage you?
7. Does the fact that the President, the former head of both the CIA and NSA, the UN Ambassador, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Director of the FBI all lie or cannot remember anything outrage or shock you?
Of course, we could go on forever, dear listener. Sorry sayeth the Big Red Car. Sorry indeed!
Age
How does age play into all of this?
Young folks cannot fathom what the big deal is — they never had or sought or expected anything in their lives to be private or beyond the reach of the government to snoop into or touch or catalog or store.
The middle age folks are prepared to trade their privacy for safety as it relates to terrorism whether than trade is accurate or not.
The old folks cannot believe that privacy is not the paramount consideration.
Why is this happening?
This entire environment of a lack of accountability and privacy is happening because technology, surveillance, access and storage have all leaped far ahead of where they were just a few years ago.
It is very difficult to blame the NSA — which has been capturing information for over 60 years — which was formed to seize all kinds of communications and, in particular, crypto (coded) stuff from looking at anything they can get their hands on.
Once upon a time they had some limitations because of technology and storage. Now they have absolutely no limitations as it relates to technology, access, cooperation or storage.
Who is going to call bullshit on the NSA? Nobody because nobody really knows what they are doing at any instant in time.
The intelligence and espionage business is based upon relationships with scumbags who are betraying their countries and our guys are allowed to break the laws of all foreign countries — so that notion that the NSA and its bed partners would ever recognize a line limiting their deployment of any crayon is a complete fiction.
As can be seen with the IRS scandal, the notion that the government can be trusted to obtain, use or store information on anyone and it be innocuous is a freakin’ pipe dream.
The government will only behave when it is denied something not when it is entrusted with something. Give them your money — they will spend it. Give them your information — they will use it against you. Now or in the future.
Big business is just as bad.
But, hey, what the Hell do I know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.