I am opposed to PRISM. I oppose where it comes from. I oppose what it is. I oppose where it is going.
It is the moral equivalent of J Edgar Hoover wire-tapping MKL Jr. It is taking that act and making it a universal principle.
Hoover's proclaimed rationale was the claim that the war on Communism must be fought abroad & at home. The proclaimed rational now is that the war on Terrorism must be fought abroad & at home.
MLK Jr wasn't a Communist.
You are not a terrorist.
Your children are not terrorists.
You should oppose PRISM whether or not you are afraid of it, whether or not you think it is in good hands, & whether or not you approve of its stated justifications.
MLK Jr was strong enough to stand up to Hoover's threats of blackmail, but he knew many Americans would not be strong enough to. And in fact, many did not. You may be strong enough to stand up to threats of blackmail, but you also know many Americans are not strong enough to. The most susceptible of all are elected officials, though no segment of society is totally immune.
One American who may not have been strong enough to stand up to it was President Truman.
President Truman (1947),
"We want no Gestapo or secret police. FBI is tending in that direction. They are dabbling in sex-life scandals and plain blackmail... J. Edgar Hoover would give his right eye to take over, and all congressmen and senators are afraid of him".
Why were they afraid of him? Why didn't Truman fire him? Hoover had literally a secret weapon. He had files filled with information on diverse folks, including elected politicians. Sadly, it didn't end in 1947.
Deloach & Hoover (1964)
"The other night, we picked up a situation where this senator was seen drunk, in a hit-and-run accident, and some good-looking broad was with him. We got the information, reported it in a memorandum, and by noon the next day, the senator was aware that we had the information, and we never had trouble with him on appropriations since."
-- FBI Assistant Director Cartha (Deke) DeLoach
DeLoach & LBJ
DeLoach would over a decade later go on to claim the FBI investigated MLK Jr. to identify if the civil rights movement was being infiltrated by communist agents. You can believe that claim or not. You can also believe or not that the primary purpose of data mining is to hunt for "terrorists."
What you had believe is that what today looks like
Will inevitably lead to "principles" of this type of man.
going after the principles of this other type of man.