End the spying | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Both Rep. Jim Matheson and President Barack Obama agree: The NSA has the right to spy on the press and innocent civilians whether it is your phone conversations, texts, cellphone GPS, Google searches, emails or Facebook. They said it is for our good and protection.

How can this power be for our good when it is so readily abused? The Department of Justice was using it to monitor journalists from the Associated Press, FOX News, and CBS in order to root out whistle blowers. Now the whistle blowers are afraid to speak out when it might cause embarrassment to the president's administration.

And the best defense Matheson and Obama can muster for this torrid behavior is: Just trust us. This is why The Salt Lake Tribune and Standard Examiner have come out against domestic spying. Matheson and Obama need to understand the people will no longer tolerate this massive intrusion on their privacy rights and need to speedily move to reform the system.

Christian Milenko Rodier

Murray