There are two disconcerting trends I see in the NSA wiretapping fiasco independent of whether wiretapping is a good idea, a necessary evil, or a bad idea.
The first is the amount of effort it takes to get very basic level of information regarding NSA activities, even when those activities are known to exist. A "secret national security court"[0] determines whether the laws voted on by Congress are constitutional? Good information is paramount in developing good opinions. It would certainly be unwise to inform parties that have been wiretapped, but ballpark estimates of how many people are wiretapped and with what level of intrusiveness are necessary to really form an opinion.
Second, there is a surprising level of apathy on both sides. Of course most people would object to a secret court to resolve questions of government power, if asked, but no one seems to consider this a question worth debating. I see some editorials explaining that warrantless wire taps are an unfortunately necessary tool in modern law enforcement, but these seem to focus on explaining why the taps really aren't a huge deal, or why the airport scanners are not really invasive, but never why they are positive steps in the right direction, actions to be applauded.
These two properties combine in an unfortunate feedback loop: it takes an inordinate amount of effort to obtain reliable information on programs such as this, and without enough initial paranoia, few delve deeper. But without easy access to what's actually happening, it's hard for the non-paranoid to get upset: there's little to do other than to say "hey! the NSA might be wiretapping, we think, but we don't know who, and we don't know when and we don't know how many."
Doesn't mention the important part about the court "determines whether the laws voted on by Congress are constitutional" which, now that I typed it out, seems to be the definition of Judicial Review.
I agree that the the situation is alarming, but this particular statement strikes me as misleading in that regard.
The first is the amount of effort it takes to get very basic level of information regarding NSA activities, even when those activities are known to exist. A "secret national security court"[0] determines whether the laws voted on by Congress are constitutional? Good information is paramount in developing good opinions. It would certainly be unwise to inform parties that have been wiretapped, but ballpark estimates of how many people are wiretapped and with what level of intrusiveness are necessary to really form an opinion.
Second, there is a surprising level of apathy on both sides. Of course most people would object to a secret court to resolve questions of government power, if asked, but no one seems to consider this a question worth debating. I see some editorials explaining that warrantless wire taps are an unfortunately necessary tool in modern law enforcement, but these seem to focus on explaining why the taps really aren't a huge deal, or why the airport scanners are not really invasive, but never why they are positive steps in the right direction, actions to be applauded.
These two properties combine in an unfortunate feedback loop: it takes an inordinate amount of effort to obtain reliable information on programs such as this, and without enough initial paranoia, few delve deeper. But without easy access to what's actually happening, it's hard for the non-paranoid to get upset: there's little to do other than to say "hey! the NSA might be wiretapping, we think, but we don't know who, and we don't know when and we don't know how many."
[0] WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044409790457753...