The National-Security State Lives

Sen. Rand Paul accomplished something worthwhile when, almost single-handedly, he saw to it that Section 215 of the Patriot Act expired. For that he deserves our heartfelt thanks.

But where does the expiration now leave us opponents of indiscriminate government spying on innocent people ? Not in such a great place. Shortly after 215 disappeared, the Senate passed the House’s watered-down USA Freedom Act, which perhaps puts some meaningful, though modest restrictions on the government’s access to our communications data, but about which the civil-liberties community properly has decidedly mixed feelings. With or without the so-called Freedom Act, however, the government’s ability to conduct mass surveillance, unrestrained by the “probable cause” standard in the Constitution, lives on. The NSA and kindred agencies have had many more arrows in their quiver than Section 215. An appeals court had already ruled that what the government was doing -- collecting everyone’s “metadata” -- exceeded what 215 appeared to permit. Yet the NSA proceeded anyway.

Thanks, Rand Paul

I'm pretty sure the NSA will continue to spy on us one way or another, but that should not detract from Rand Paul's unswerving efforts to block reauthorization of the section of the PATRIOT Act that the government used (illegally) to collect bulk data about our phone calls. For now, that section is expired.

Keep up the good work!

Phone Surveillance Must End

You probably are not a terrorist. Chances are the government doesn’t even suspect you of knowing a terrorist. Even so, the National Security Agency (NSA) — without a warrant — collects information about your — and every other American’s — phone calls. Edward Snowden blew the whistle on this bulk-data-collection program.

Read the rest of my article "Phone Surveillance Must End," written for the Independent Institute, at The Daily Caller.

Thank you, Sen. Paul...

...for your attempt to hold up passage of the Patriot Act.