The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald has a piece out this week that covers the big shift taking place in major public opinion against NSA surveillance. For the first time since 9/11, Americans are starting to get concerned about what has been going on under the radar.
This is a tough pill for neocons to swallow. Demagoguery and keeping public opinion in line are always at the top of their “to do” list. If the public gets squeamish, it could turn out to be the first domino to fall in the direction of (heaven forbid in their eyes) peace.
Those who advocate free-market Austrian Economics are very familiar with the knee-jerk retaliations that come from Marxists and Keynesians. The go-to move is always name-calling or character attack.
Neocons (whose worldview descends from Trotskyism), follow the same playbook. No doubt catching wind of Greenwald’s piece, neocon commissar Jennifer Rubin took to her keyboard and let the insults fly.
She writes:
I think what is going on here is not merely a spontaneous reaction to Big Brother. We have to look at the politicians leading the suicidal charge and examine their motives.
In other words, let’s put arguments aside, and start attacking individual characters.
I take as a given that many of these GOP lawmakers (e.g. Sens. Mike Lee and Rand Paul) are ignorant as to the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, but they certainly could learn the law and/or defer to more knowledgeable colleagues.
She continues:
But, to be candid, in many cases this becomes akin to a teenager dying her hair purple to get attention and annoy authority figures. In doing so, the psychedelically coiffed teenagers and the Justin Amash’s do what they do because they are trying to establish their identity and elevate themselves by trashing the adults in the room.
The tactic that Rubin is using here is extremely obvious. Stay away from the issues, just smear smear smear.
Fortunately, for those who seek liberty and peace, the smears are actually a valuable indicator. When the opposition starts to retreat into name-calling and personal attacks, it indicates that good things are happening.
In this case, a combination of factors (which include Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald, the power of the Internet and social media, and Congressmen who have introduced legislation in an attempt to curb the massive spying apparatus) have succeeded in reaching the masses and alerted them to the danger that Big Brother poses.
The polls are starting to reflect it, and that’s like kryptonite for the Neocons.
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