Intelligence...

It almost seems like a buzzword these days. You see it on the news every night and you see it in video games. Hell, even CNN now has a section called "Security Clearance". Filled in these musings are feelings of mistrust, conspiracy, and anger. Perhaps that's drives traitors like Edward Snowden to end up where they are now?

As the "leaks" continue to come out of a stolen laptop that currently sits in Moscow, one really has to ask themselves what really is a play here. As of this week, the newest "leak" was that supposedly the NSA was watching American citizens on the popular game "World Of Warcraft". Now lets seriously ask ourselves what the more likely scenario is... The government is spending millions and millions of dollars to covertly watch you level up your Elf Wizard? Or is Snowden simply trying to rile support from an uninformed and easily provoked public? He and a lot of the media would have you believe that the government is paying a small army of people to watch your every move. To which I would ask: Are you really that important? Personally, I think it's a little self centered for folks to think that Uncle Sam spends billions of dollars to know what you're texting someone or what you said on the phone. Isn't it more likely to assume that there are bad guys within our borders that use the same kinds of things you do? Or do we really think that international terrorists, drug smugglers, and other nefarious people just come into the US and not use any of our technology? What the American public fails to understand (though their own lack of motivation to find out) is that all of these supposed "outrages" are all presided over by federal judges and by members of congress. So the idea that Intelligence organizations just run around without a leash on is just flat out WRONG.

As someone who has actually been there and worked in the Intelligence field, I can honestly say that there are REALLY good people that work in that field that take personal privacy very seriously. And the ones that don't are escorted out very quickly. American's need to realize that these people aren't just government drones but their own family members, neighbors, and friends, that work long hours with little thanks to help keep America safe and one step ahead of its adversaries. Traitors like Edward Snowden would have you believe otherwise; but it's hard to take a person who stole something from the American people, traveled to our 2 biggest global adversaries, and suddenly has a nice new house in Moscow, at his word...