Verizon Surveillance: Do We Feel Safer?

Senator Rand Paul has a provoking essay over at the Guardian.  He takes a look at some of Senator Obama’s stances on civil liberties and then examines what he has done as president.  The focus is on the hub-bub surrounding Verizon phone records.  Of course, the matter is bigger  than just one company.  The National Security Agency is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large tech companies.

Here is a snippet of Paul’s concluding paragraphs and his worries about our National Security State:

If the seizure and surveillance of Americans’ phone records – across the board and with little to no discrimination – is now considered a legitimate security precaution, there is literally no protection of any kind guaranteed anymore to American citizens. In their actions, more outrageous and numerous by the day, this administration continues to treat the US constitution as a dead letter.