All kinds of spying, targeting and snooping seem to be going on in Washington (and elsewhere) these days. One or more people in the Internal Revenue Service decided that targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups was the best way to see if any groups were inappropriately applying for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The Department of Justice, with Attorney General Holder’s approval in at least one case, has been issuing subpoenas for phone records of journalists and their employers. (This has gotten so bad, at least in the press’s view, that The New York Times has complained about a subpoena issued to a Fox News reporter.)
And, of course, the National Security Agency has undertaken a massive data collection program with respect to our phone calls and e-mails.
I don’t object to NSA program. People in charge say it has helped, and, as the details have come out, it appears that any imposition is minor. I am glad President Obama has come around to supporting programs like this.
The subpoenas on the news media seem to be a part of the big effort to stop leaks. All presidents dislike leaks. President Obama seems to dislike them more than most. As mentioned, he has subpoenaed reporters’ phone records. His administration has also broiught more charges against alleged leakers under the Espionage Act of 1917 than all previous presidents combined. They even threatened a reporter with charges under the Espionage Act of 1917 for allegedly seeking a leak. (Also here.)
The IRS targeting of Tea Party groups is the worst, however. It doesn’t matter if it was ordered by people at the top or if it was an idea that some lower level people came up with on their own. This is an attack by a part of the federal government on groups of people with a particular set of political beliefs. President Obama was right to criticize it strongly, but we now need a real and trustworthy investigation to make sure we figure out why it happened and how we can make sure it never happens again. Statements by people such as Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md) that it is overblown and no big deal are not helpful. (Also, see here.) We need a real investigation to restore people’s trust in the government.
We need to restore that trust so people will trust programs like the NSA program. If you can’t convince people that things like the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups aren’t going to happen again, then you are going to have problems getting people to trust necessary programs like the NSA effort. To do this, the Administration needs to understand that the people who need to be convinced are not its own supporters. It’s the people who were targeted. This is not a partisan issue. This is not about winning the next election. This is about restoring the trust of the American people in their government – so the government can do what it needs to do to protect us from foreign threats.
Restoring that trust is going to take a big effort by the Administration – and by the President himself. This isn’t going to be easy for an Administration – and a President – that seems to take offense easily and often doesn’t give the other side credit for having honest motives, but it needs to be done. The President needs to explain why the IRS targeting isn’t going to happen again. He also needs to do a lot more work explaining why the NSA program is necessary. It isn’t just a matter of going on “Charlie Rose” on PBS. The President needs to talk to, and convince, the people who don’t support him, too.
In this regard, when he talks to them, he needs to get his facts right. The President shouldn’t say, as he did on “Charlie Rose,” that the NSA program is transparent. It isn’t. It’s secret, and it needs to be secret. He needs to defend that secrecy. Also, the President shouldn’t imply that he set up the FISA court. He didn’t. It was in place before he was elected. And he definitely shouldn’t defend the program on the basis that it’s okay now because he’s president.
This is not going to be easy for the President. No president likes to try to convince his opponents. It’s hard, but it needs to be done. I hope he does it.
Comments