Collateral Fourth Amendment damage

July 07, 2014

Writer

The consistent excuse from Congress to continue the NSA’s mass data collection is to say they never target anyone other than terrorists. Turns out that’s not exactly the case. In fact, some 90% of the individuals targeted weren’t real targets, as Buck Sexton referred to them on radio today they are more aptly described as collateral Fourth Amendment damage.

WATCH:

Below is a rough transcript of this segment:

BUCK: First, what really caught my eye, because I was doing my read, preparing for what I call as my session in the freedom hunt, there have been new revelations about the N.S.A., Edward Snowden, the contractor turned, oh, people call him a whistle-blower. I think we're going to have to start thinking of other terms. Whistle-blower is a much abused term now. In fact, when you look at the Obama Administration's record on whistle-blowers, a lot of the time the people whose names are bandied about by members of the press are with no normal understanding of the term to be called whistle-blowers.

Someone want to explain to me what Bradley, aka Chelsey, Manning, what whistle was being blown exactly, that a war is being fought, that diplomacy is a dirty business, that there are countries all over the world that are very corrupt. We still try to work with them. I'm not really sure how that is blowing a whistle. That would be perhaps blowing state secrets, but not a whistle per se.

There are other instances as well when are people get lumped in, whistle-blower. To be a whistle-blower you have to be identifying wrongdoing and that does not apply to some of the things that we're talking about here with the N.S.A.

However, in this particular instance, because there there have been many instances, because if you believe what we're told publicly by the intelligence community at this point in time, what Snowden took with him was massive, a trove of data. And the latest according to "The Washington Post" as we see here is ordinary Internet users, American and non-American alike, far outnumber legally targeted foreigners in a communication sept intercepted by the National Security Agency from U.S. digital networks, according to a four-month investigation by "The Washington Post."

You see, the Post now has all of these documents in its possession and it takes it upon itself to sift through them. And they're blocking out some things I see here, doing their own version, not of declassification per se, but, oh, of a journalistic scrub perhaps. I'm not really sure exactly what they would call it, because they're not really qualified to do the things that they're doing when it comes to removing sensitive information. But ordinary Internet users are being swept up into this.

Now, I have many people who know me and know what I used to do in a -- what feels like a prior life now, say, did you see the latest revelation? Do you see what they're doing? This is Orwellian. This is big brother. This is absurd. And I say, yes, yes, it is. Why are you surprised? That's where I am now on this. And I don't mean to be glib or smug. Sometimes I do. In this case I don't. In this instance, as we find more and more of these data dumps coming out, I have to say to people, well, yes, of course, don't you see everything on the Internet essentially now for all intents and purposes is collected, it is under surveillance, it is being kept. That the government now, because it's protecting you from the terrorists, from the terrorizers, the government has decided that it needs all of the information it can get on all of us at all times, even though it doesn't seem it's ever able to stop many of these threats from actually becoming a reality.

So we see once again in the dragnet that the N.S.A. is running, allegedly according to "The Washington Post," according to the snowing document that is -- snowing documents that they have in their possession, some of which have been published in the post at least in piecemeal, much of the information that's being collected from this N.S.A. dragnet that's suppose to protect us from terrorist organizations, it's just the stuff that you're sending to your families and friends. In fact, 160,000 intercepted conversations is what the "Post" is claiming, including emails, instant messages, photographs, social network posts and other document.

The trove included messages exchanged from 2009 to 2012 and some were hundreds of pages long, with 90% of the individuals not targets, but rather I guess you could call them collateral Fourth Amendment damage. Maybe that's how we should start referring to this. The Fourth Amendment seems rather clear, and yet when it comes to national security, when all of a sudden the intelligence community is in a place where the national security apparatus more broadly, we have to include the White House and the Pentagon. When they have a moment, they can tell us that we're under such dire threat. They do as they did over the weekend, by the way. I didn't even care much to delve into the specifics. I just know there was a threat, Fourth of July weekend. DHS looking for something. They're going to take even more time now, squirt out even more milk bottles and look through even more laptop cases and all the rest of that, because that's really going to stop the terrorists. So much of it is needless theater, but it's theater to a broader purpose.

And now you have to understand it's theater that has a couple of things that make it very tricky to walk back. We're always told we're under threat and that if we don't do these sort of things, if we don't allow the government to trample on the Fourth Amendment, to decide that it's able to ignore the Constitution when it's convenient, we don't do those things and the terrorists will win. Or at least the terrorists will strike at us. They will harm us. They will do bad things to this country. And so now so many Americans in fact have been brought up in this sort of statist culture. When they talk about these things, you'll hear them say, I have nothing to hide. And they don't seem to understand that the founders didn't say I'm against a general warrant because I'm illegally importing goods, although some of them were. They didn't say I'm against the concept of my home and my business being rummaged through by Redcoats, because I'm doing so much illegal stuff. They just said that that's not what the state should be able to do.

It's too much power in the hands of the state, that it relies too much on the good graces of those who have been given authority by the citizens of this country or in that case of course by the king. And it was unacceptable. It's not a question of innings or guilt. It's a question of how much power you're giving the government to intrude upon our daily lives and to cowice from citizens into subjects. Social media posts. Apparently your baby photos, apparently anything you write to anyone at any point in time could be or is already collected by the same government that promises you, there's so many safeguards in place, it will protect you.

Let's keep in mind this is the government that has one of its senior most officials from the I.R.S. pleading the fifth amendment. Can't talk about what I did in my professional capacity, can't have that discussion. Why? Oh, I wonder. Seven hard drives crashing. Seven hard drives that are irretrievable. In one instance at least with Lois Lerner, they've been destroyed. That's the government that's saying don't worry. We have total access to all of your stuff but we promise we won't abuse it.

You see, they don't necessarily want to abuse your stuff. They're not necessarily targeting any individual out there right now. But they can target every individual. That has of course a chilling effect on all of us. But more importantly, they can target specific people as they need to this time. And as you will see, a state that begins to run roughshod over the people, doesn't take kindly and this is a historical truth. You can look back to any country that has gone to radical. When people speak out, they have to make examples of people. When people all of a sudden step out of line, when citizens say, this is too much. This government no longer is representative of me, of my values, of what I believe in when they start to have that conversation. Then the government, the one-eyed cyclops that is the government decides to crush dissent. And guess what, with a could be easier crushing dissent when you have access to everything a person has ever said or done. When you have access to secret law, not only secret law, secret warrants.

And when you can avoid the scrutiny of fellow citizens, one of the only checks we have tyranny apart from the Second Amendment, when you can avoid that as a government entity by claiming secrecy, national security privileges. Sorry, you can't know about that. If you were smarter, if you had more to offer, perhaps we would tell you, but you're just a lowly citizen. We are the lords in the intelligence community, in the national security community, and you are the serfs. Deal with it. This is the offer they're making to us now or perhaps it's an offer we can't refuse. And this is what they say to us.

And now they wonder why we come out and say, well, you want us to trust us and yet why should we. You want us to trust you, government, and we see how you act in so many different capacities, and instances. This same government that can't secure the border, that lies to our faces for years about how secure the border is.

We're going to be talking about that extensively in just a little bit today on the show. That same government is saying to you, give us unlimited surveillance authority and power. You won't know about it, so don't worry, it can't hurt you. But it is going to be unlimited. Give us that power and we'll protect you. That's an offer that's been made by many a tyrant to many a peasant centuries and centuries, millennia back, actually. Give us the authority and everything will be fine. We just had Fourth of July. We just had our Independence Day and been with it. Perhaps we should start to think a little bit more seriously about what freedom actually means here at home and what the government is asking us to do on a regular basis, or even more egregiously, just doing and expecting us to not make a peep about it.

Woke ideology trumps medicine in America's top 5 medical schools

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Progressive ideology has infected our most prestigious medical schools and is seeping into our medical system.

As Glenn covered in his latest TV special, "diversity, equity and inclusion" (DEI), and leftist rhetoric have overtaken science and medicine as the focus of medical schools across the nation. The next generation of doctors and nurses is being force-fed DEI and "anti-racist" nonsense at the expense of slipping standards. This has led to a decline in people's trust in the medical industry and for good reason. Woke ideology has already been the driving force behind at least one medical malpractice case, and more are undoubtedly on the way.

All of this is being spearheaded by universities, which have integrated DEI practices into the fabric of their programs. Our top medical schools now require students and staff to participate in mandatory DEI and "anti-racist" classes and training and are adjusting the standards to reflect this new shift in focus. Here are 5 statements from the top American medical schools that show that medicine is no longer their primary focus:

Harvard Medical School

Boston Globe / Contributor | Getty Images

Taken from the Harvard University "Unconscious bias" resource page:

“As members of HMS, we each have a responsibility to create an inclusive community that values all individuals. Barriers to inclusion may include assumptions we make about others that guide our interactions. Recognizing our Unconscious Bias is a critical step in developing a culture of equity and inclusion within HMS and in our partnerships with other communities.”

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Rob Carr / Staff | Getty Images

Pulled from the JHM Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity blog:

“One-hour live, virtual unconscious bias training ... [w]ill be required at all Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) entities for managers and above; hospital nurse leaders; credentialed providers (such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners); and for school of medicine faculty and trainees (including residents, fellows, medical and graduate students, and research postdocs), as well as those at a manager level or above.”

Stanford University School of Medicine

Philip Pacheco / Stringer | Getty Images

Found on the Stanford Medicine Commission on Justice and Equity page:

“The Commission on Justice and Equity—composed of external and internal leaders, experts, and advocates—represents an institution-wide, collaborative effort to dismantle systemic racism and discrimination within our own community and beyond.”

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Education Images / Contributor | Getty Images

Taken from the Penn Medicine Commitment to Inclusion, Equity, and Antiracism site:

“We openly acknowledge the role of structural forces of oppression as primary drivers of the disparate health outcomes. We believe that working to reverse the underrepresentation of historically excluded groups is critical in achieving equitable health outcomes. While this is an ongoing journey for our program, here are some of the tangible steps we have taken to achieve an inclusive culture”

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Jeenah Moon / Stringer | Getty Images

Pulled from the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, Justice, and Anti-Racism page:

"Courses are being revised to be more inclusive and informed by the key principle of race as a social construct and a social determinant of health. We are training faculty that Anti-Racism is not an add-on to a course. Anti-Racism is a pedagogy - a manner of teaching, designing courses, and measuring learning outcomes. We make sure that the classroom environment is inclusive by holding space for respectful conversation and ensuring that we address any “classroom ruptures”– a disorienting dilemma or situation when a bias or microaggression that may occur, providing real time opportunities for professional development, learning, and growth. Racist actions and remarks are never tolerated at Columbia University and will be dealt with following established protocols."

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

David McNew / Staff | Getty Images

"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

Dan Mullan / Staff | Getty Images

"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

VALERIE MACON / Contributor | Getty Images

"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images

"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

Oleg Nikishin / Stringer | Getty Images

Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

New York Daily News Archive / Contributor | Getty Images

The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

Galerie Bilderwelt / Contributor | Getty Images

Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

Nick Ut / Contributor | Getty Images

The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

Bill Hinton / Contributor | Getty Images

Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

WPA Pool / Pool | Getty Images

Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.