Big Brother Is Listening
This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
With the revelation that the NSA now has the biggest database about anything anywhere, people have been wondering, and justifiably so, about just how much information is enough to protect America from terrorists.
To know that three of the major phone companies happily opened their doors to the government — there were cries of Big Brother.
The president says he just wants to look for patterns; he doesn't want to listen to any calls. But when the whole warrantless wiretapping story first broke last December, he said the government was really only tracking country to country calls. I guess that wasn't exactly true.
So Big Brother is alive and well. Should you be shocked and angry? We are, after all, at war.
Here's the thing about big brothers: Sometimes they protect you on the playground — but sometimes they sock you in the gut when no one's looking.
Harry's daily commentary can be heard on manyCBS Radio News affiliates across the country.