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While many Tea Party Republicans express a cold skepticism of the government’s spying on us, Wichita’s very own US Representative Mike Pompeo, has assured us that we can trust him and the federal government. In fact he has insisted we are much safer now that our internet privacy is disappearing.
There is no need to worry about our government taking advantage of its advanced spy technology on us. According to Pompeo we can trust the government to do the right thing. He also believes we need to give up our freedom in order to win the never-ending war on terrorism.
According to a statement released to his constituents:
“We cannot abandon effective tools in the War on Terror any more than we can abandon the battlefield—too many lives are at risk. These programs work. In fact, they have worked close to home stopping terrorist plotters in Kansas City. Over 50 terrorist schemes have ended and American lives have been saved—those of our soldiers and those at home—because our professional intelligence community uses these programs. We must support them. We must continue our effective oversight to ensure the privacy of American citizens. And we must win this War on Terror…..”
But does he actually provide details of all these thwarted terror attempts? Not in his news letter to his constituents. He does, however, find a way to point fingers at other government attempts at domestic spying on his conservative allies, while trying to justify his personal “war on terror.” In his newsletter;
“There are few whose distrust of government is greater than mine. The actions of the IRS and of this administration following the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi do not engender confidence and provide no reason to trust this administration. I will remain vigilant in holding this administration accountable for each of those scandals and for executing the government’s central mission of securing our nation…..”
And some of his arguments amount to:”don’ts spy on our conservative people—just spy on liberals or anti-government people:”
“Some have compared the NSA program to the IRS’s scandalous targeting of political opponents of the administration. That comparison is inappropriate. For starters, the military leaders and professional counterterrorism officials at the NSA were acting within the scope of existing law. The IRS officials targeting Tea Party groups were not. Furthermore, General Alexander and Deputy Director Joyce take seriously their mission to keep us safe and protect our civil liberties. You will not see them in a Star Trek spoof video or in a Conga line at a taxpayer-funded conference the way we have seen IRS officials (click here/ my own version). The NSA culture of respecting the rule of law, the mission-driven leaders, and congressional and judicial oversight provide enormous protections for the American people.”
So he’s all for protecting his right-wing allies, but everyone else can just suck it up when it comes to privacy. He has also demonized the man who blew the whistle on government’s violation of our rights:
“Notorious leaker Edward Snowden has recently, and falsely, claimed two programs have resulted in the National Security Agency’s listening to phone calls and reading emails of U.S. citizens unconnected to terrorist activity. Not surprisingly, many in the media have parroted these claims notwithstanding their untrustworthy source.
…Snowden swore an oath of allegiance to the U.S., then stole U.S. secrets, snuck off to Communist China and now pretends to be acting in the best interests of a country that he has both betrayed and fled. These are the actions of a felon and a coward, not a whistleblower or a hero. We have already seen al Qaeda shift its communication tactics as a result of these leaks. It will now be much harder for us to find them.”
Again there are no actual evidence given to back up his claims, so we are just supposed to take his word for it that Snowden is a coward and a traitor. The actual enemy he alerted to is our government’s spying activity on its own people who have every right to know what their government is doing to them.
Once again we see the biased evidence that Pompeo uses to justify his ridiculous accusations. For example:
“Yesterday, I had the chance to go on Fox News and speak about these programs:
…As a veteran, I want our soldiers in the field to have the intelligence they need to perform their missions effectively. As a conservative, and member of the House Intelligence Committee, I take the balance between privacy and protecting American lives very seriously. I believe these anti-terror programs are crucial.”
He also quoted the most conservative and most discredited congresswoman in the US Congress today; “Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who he claims also asked the right questions. The answers she received were clear and unequivocal. Click here.”
So Pompeo has tried to defend his attacks on people’s privacy to The Wichita Eagle. At the same time, Yahoo News has revealed that the FBI and other agencies have used drones to spy on US citizens:
“When it comes to domestic surveillance, sometimes Congress seems like it’s expressing shock and outrage about something it already knows—or should have known. Take the use of drones on U.S. soil.
FBI Director Robert Mueller admitted at a hearing this week that his agency uses unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance on U.S. soil. Mueller insisted the FBI used drones “in a very, very minimal way”—but his comments did nothing to quiet the raging debate over privacy rights in the aftermath of National Security Agency spying revelations.”
So for those of us who live in Wichita, under Pompeo’s district, we can kiss our privacy good-by. Pompeo clearly just doesn’t care.
There is no need to worry about our government taking advantage of its advanced spy technology on us. According to Pompeo we can trust the government to do the right thing. He also believes we need to give up our freedom in order to win the never-ending war on terrorism.
According to a statement released to his constituents:
“We cannot abandon effective tools in the War on Terror any more than we can abandon the battlefield—too many lives are at risk. These programs work. In fact, they have worked close to home stopping terrorist plotters in Kansas City. Over 50 terrorist schemes have ended and American lives have been saved—those of our soldiers and those at home—because our professional intelligence community uses these programs. We must support them. We must continue our effective oversight to ensure the privacy of American citizens. And we must win this War on Terror…..”
But does he actually provide details of all these thwarted terror attempts? Not in his news letter to his constituents. He does, however, find a way to point fingers at other government attempts at domestic spying on his conservative allies, while trying to justify his personal “war on terror.” In his newsletter;
“There are few whose distrust of government is greater than mine. The actions of the IRS and of this administration following the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi do not engender confidence and provide no reason to trust this administration. I will remain vigilant in holding this administration accountable for each of those scandals and for executing the government’s central mission of securing our nation…..”
And some of his arguments amount to:”don’ts spy on our conservative people—just spy on liberals or anti-government people:”
“Some have compared the NSA program to the IRS’s scandalous targeting of political opponents of the administration. That comparison is inappropriate. For starters, the military leaders and professional counterterrorism officials at the NSA were acting within the scope of existing law. The IRS officials targeting Tea Party groups were not. Furthermore, General Alexander and Deputy Director Joyce take seriously their mission to keep us safe and protect our civil liberties. You will not see them in a Star Trek spoof video or in a Conga line at a taxpayer-funded conference the way we have seen IRS officials (click here/ my own version). The NSA culture of respecting the rule of law, the mission-driven leaders, and congressional and judicial oversight provide enormous protections for the American people.”
So he’s all for protecting his right-wing allies, but everyone else can just suck it up when it comes to privacy. He has also demonized the man who blew the whistle on government’s violation of our rights:
“Notorious leaker Edward Snowden has recently, and falsely, claimed two programs have resulted in the National Security Agency’s listening to phone calls and reading emails of U.S. citizens unconnected to terrorist activity. Not surprisingly, many in the media have parroted these claims notwithstanding their untrustworthy source.
…Snowden swore an oath of allegiance to the U.S., then stole U.S. secrets, snuck off to Communist China and now pretends to be acting in the best interests of a country that he has both betrayed and fled. These are the actions of a felon and a coward, not a whistleblower or a hero. We have already seen al Qaeda shift its communication tactics as a result of these leaks. It will now be much harder for us to find them.”
Again there are no actual evidence given to back up his claims, so we are just supposed to take his word for it that Snowden is a coward and a traitor. The actual enemy he alerted to is our government’s spying activity on its own people who have every right to know what their government is doing to them.
Once again we see the biased evidence that Pompeo uses to justify his ridiculous accusations. For example:
“Yesterday, I had the chance to go on Fox News and speak about these programs:
…As a veteran, I want our soldiers in the field to have the intelligence they need to perform their missions effectively. As a conservative, and member of the House Intelligence Committee, I take the balance between privacy and protecting American lives very seriously. I believe these anti-terror programs are crucial.”
He also quoted the most conservative and most discredited congresswoman in the US Congress today; “Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who he claims also asked the right questions. The answers she received were clear and unequivocal. Click here.”
So Pompeo has tried to defend his attacks on people’s privacy to The Wichita Eagle. At the same time, Yahoo News has revealed that the FBI and other agencies have used drones to spy on US citizens:
“When it comes to domestic surveillance, sometimes Congress seems like it’s expressing shock and outrage about something it already knows—or should have known. Take the use of drones on U.S. soil.
FBI Director Robert Mueller admitted at a hearing this week that his agency uses unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance on U.S. soil. Mueller insisted the FBI used drones “in a very, very minimal way”—but his comments did nothing to quiet the raging debate over privacy rights in the aftermath of National Security Agency spying revelations.”
So for those of us who live in Wichita, under Pompeo’s district, we can kiss our privacy good-by. Pompeo clearly just doesn’t care.
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