Skipping Merrily Down An Unmarked Road

Trey Smith

Apparently there is general public approbation of the “national conversation” we may be having about Americans spying on Americans. Many in media seem to take a certain smug, self-satisfaction of our “openness” and willingness to confront “hard issues,” all of which is bogus in the extreme.

The NSA is only one of 16 secret intelligence agencies under the general control of the Director of National Intelligence. We aren’t talking about the others. Even though they have a history of operating outside the law or against it, we aren’t talking about them.

We aren’t talking about any state intelligence agencies or fusion centers or local intelligence agencies (for example, New York City or Chicago). Together these number in the thousands.

Fundamentally, we aren’t talking about the basic infrastructure of a potential American police state, even though much of that infrastructure is already in place.

For now the “conversation” is contained to the question of whether the NSA should be spying on us more? Or less? Whether the NSA should be spying on us at all is hardly heard above a whisper.

Our current “conversation” is about the size, shape, and authority of our police state apparatus, not whether or not we should have one.
~ from We Have The Basics Of A Police State – How Much Farther Should We Go? by William Boardman ~

This is the really scary part of all these recent revelations. They pertain solely to 1 of the 16 federal agencies. If the NSA is running roughshod over the US Constitution, it stands to reason that the others are doing so as well.

Do you know the names of all 16 spy agencies? I didn't. Here's the list from Wikipedia.

Independent agencies

• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

United States Department of Defense

• Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
• National Security Agency (NSA)
• National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
• National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
• Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA)
• Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM)
• Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA)
• Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)

United States Department of Energy

• Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (OICI)

United States Department of Homeland Security

• Office of Intelligence and Analysis (IA)
• Coast Guard Intelligence (CGI)

United States Department of Justice

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of National Security Intelligence (DEA/ONSI)

United States Department of State

• Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR)

United States Department of the Treasury

• Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI)

Gee, no spy agency for the Department of Education or the Consumer Protection Bureau?

With all these various agencies intent on intelligence gathering and the assumption that a lot of their efforts are focused inside our borders, what more do we need to erect a police state? It would seem that all the components have been put in place right under our noses! The only missing element is a declaration of martial law and the government already has had a test-run with that after the Boston Marathon Bombings. (Note: My guess is that they determined it went splendidly well as most citizens acquiesced with little complaint.)

In this morning's post, I stated that the creation of viability for an alternative political party is impossible in today's climate. The current situation of the creation of a police state only underscores that point. Though the majority of Americans have expressed their opposition to spying on innocent citizens -- answering a poll takes almost no effort -- it has not caused people to coalesce around a movement to oppose it! Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the nation to protest the Zimmerman verdict, but have you seen as little as one hundred people protesting the evisceration of the right of privacy embedded in the Bill of Rights?

Sadly, most average Americans are skipping merrily down an unmarked road, one littered with cameras, listening devices and spies hidden on every block. Almost every aspect of our lives is being scrutinized, analyzed and who knows what else. When the noose is finally tightened so that we can't breathe, I bet most of my brethren will look around wild-eyed to exclaim, "Hey, what's going on? When was all this stuff put in place?"