[From article]
In 1975, Frank Church, a Democratic senator from Idaho, told the American people that a government intelligence agency most of them had never heard of -- the National Security Agency -- "had the capability to secretly monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn't matter. There would be no place to hide."
[. . .]
This exemplary patriot assured us that "never again will an agency of the government be permitted to conduct a secret war against those citizens it considers threats to the established order."
[. . .]
Don't count on congressional backing. It is already clear that both parties have no meaningful concern that this is still trying to be a self-governing republic. However, there are civil liberties institutions run by citizens who do give a damn about having an open government, and they should get behind this new Church Committee.
And so must you. We can't always depend on other Edward Snowdens to shock us into knowing what our government is hiding from us.
If, by the 2016 elections, the CIA, NSA, et al. are still mysteriously ensconced, don't bother to celebrate Independence Day.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff032614.php3#.UzJdbN2yO4A
March 26, 2014 / 24 Adar II, 5774
Let's fight back vs. government throttling of Constitution
By Nat Hentoff
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