Look, people around here can shoot off about how 'ridiculous' it is to think the NSA would want anything to do with sorting through mail except to look for Anthrax or Ricin all they want, but it will not change history. These things have been done before, and is there not some saying about not learning lessons and history repeating itself? Giving a letter to the post office is not 'giving it to the government'. You are paying for a service with the expectation of privacy (grounded in law).
Some people seem either naive to the powers of a out of control surveillance industry, or just all too willing to accept it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
A series of troubling revelations started to appear in the press concerning intelligence activities. First came the revelations of Christopher Pyle in January 1970 of the U.S. Army's spying on the civilian population[1][2] and Sam Ervin's Senate investigations produced more revelations.[3] Then on December 22, 1974, The New York Times published a lengthy article by Seymour Hersh detailing operations engaged in by the CIA over the years that had been dubbed the "family jewels". Covert action programs involving assassination attempts against foreign leaders and covert attempts to subvert foreign governments were reported for the first time. In addition, the article discussed efforts by intelligence agencies to collect information on the political activities of US citizens
Hersh, by todays standards, is a traitor and enemy collaborator.
The Church Committee learned that beginning in the 1950s, the CIA and Federal Bureau of Investigation intercepted, opened and photographed more than 215,000 pieces of mail by the time the program called "HTLINGUAL" was shut down in 1973. This program was all done under the "mail covers" program. A mail cover is when the government records without a warrant or notification all information on the outside of an envelope or package, including the name of the sender and the recipient. The Church report found that the CIA was zealous about keeping the United States Postal Service from learning that mail was being opened by government agents. CIA agents moved mail to a private room to open the mail or in some cases opened envelopes at night after stuffing them in briefcases or coat pockets to deceive postal officials.[5]
This 'mail-covers program' is the exact kind of thing the defenders of the program are citing as its defense . Nevermind the program itself seems rather pointless unless terrorists plan on using their home address.
At one time even Democrats were against it:
President Bush signed a little-noticed statement last month asserting the authority to open U.S. mail without judicial warrants in emergencies or foreign intelligence cases, prompting warnings yesterday from Democrats and privacy advocates that the administration is attempting to circumvent legal restrictions on its powers.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are also allowed to obtain authority from postal inspectors to track mail without opening it.
The latest statement caused a small ruckus on Capitol Hill yesterday just as Democrats were taking control of Congress. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the statement a "last-minute, irregular and unauthorized reinterpretation of a duly passed law."
Couple with the DoD supported private contractors attempts to
hack,smear and discredit Liberals:
Two years ago, a batch of stolen e-mails revealed a plot by a set of three defense contractors (Palantir Technologies, Berico Technologies and HBGary Federal) to target activists, reporters, labor unions and political organizations. The plans— one concocted in concert with lawyers for the US Chamber of Commerce to sabotage left-leaning critics, like the Center for American Progress and the SEIU, and a separate proposal to “combat” WikiLeaks and its supporters, including Glenn Greenwald, on behalf of Bank of America
One does not have to take many leaps to see how the USPS could be just another tool in the belt of the Industrial Surveillance Complex to be misused with some quick 'changes in policy' under some other administration. So isn't the time to do something about it now when we have 'one of our own' in office, instead of compromising our values and making excuses for bad behavior? We're supposed to be the good guys, lets keep it that way.