Editorial: Who watches the watchers?

 Even the Imperial Congress is not immune to the snooping of government data gatherers.

CNN published a story over the weekend regarding a response the National Security Agency gave to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) inquiry as to whether the NSA was collecting so-called metadata on members of Congress. The answer would appear to be “yes.”

According to CNN, the agency stated: “Members of Congress have the same privacy protections as all US persons.” In other words, like all Americans in the current climate, members of Congress have no privacy despite guarantees written into the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

The revelation is ironic in that Congressmen and Senators are rarely treated like regular citizens, but it is disturbing to know that basically the NSA regards no one at all to be free from its prying eyes.

In the name of “security” America has already given up too many freedoms with no sign that they are coming back. And most of us had no idea how bad it had gotten until Edward Snowden blew the lid off the government’s surveillance of every man, woman, and child in this country as well as the spying even our closest allies around the world.

Snowden remains in exile in Russia, branded as a traitor by the government of the United States, and facing criminal charges. Given the embarrassment he caused, it’s kind of surprising that the government hasn’t “droned” Snowden yet, but perhaps that would make too much of a mess.

Last week, The New York Times and England’s Guardian both published editorials calling for a pardon for Snowden. And you can add The Clarendon Enterprise’s much lesser editorial clout to that list. Snowden doesn’t deserve prison time, he deserves a medal for having the guts to reveal what the dark forces inside our government have been up to.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), who is a patriot in his own right and a vocal critic of the NSA domestic spying, didn’t go so far this weekend as to suggest a pardon for Snowden, but he did tell ABC News this weekend that any prison sentence for the man should be light. He even jokingly suggested that he should share a prison cell with National Intelligence Director James Clapper, Jr., who lied to Congress last summer and said the NSA was not collecting data on Americans.

“Maybe if they served in a prison cell together, we’d become further enlightened as a country as to what we should or shouldn’t do,” Paul said.

With the backing of powerful members in both parties, there is little chance that the NSA will be reined it. Its secret power, granted by a secret court is an anathema to everything the Founding Fathers envisioned for this country. But you would expect no less from a government with unchecked power.

Let’s get a move on

“When?” That’s the question that is on the lips of business owners and consumers in Clarendon two months after alcohol sales were legalized by Donley County voters.

The election has come and gone, but those interested in selling adult beverages are still waiting for the go-ahead from the City of Clarendon which hasn’t set up any rules on the subject. Four establishments have published notice of intent to apply for alcoholic beverage permits, and others are anxious to get moving.

Businesses have also already made investments getting prepared to sell alcohol. One convenience store has new coolers in place and ready, and another has repainted, rearranged, and even put up a sign with “cold beer” and “wine” above an aisle with empty shelves.

Officials say the city is not dragging its feet on this issue. The election was November 5; and after voters approved the measure the city was supposed to have met with representatives of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on December 6. But a winter storm kept the TABC folks from Lubbock at home, and now they are coming to town this Friday. City aldermen will then discuss the issue – and possibly take some action – next Tuesday.

This paper favors free enterprise and encourages our city to adopt rules that will result in the maximum benefit of economic development. As they consider this issue, this column would encourage our aldermen to adopt rules that would put existing businesses on equal footing with each other and that would foster development along already established commercial corridors.

In other words, care should be taken not to adopt rules that would allow one convenience store to sell beer but deny that same right to another store. And likewise, our local restaurants should be allowed to start this new era on a level playing field. The simplest and fairest way to achieve this is to allow sales along US 287 and on Kearney Street between First and Fourth Streets.

Rules governing sales in other locations can be crafted later, and ordinances governing other issues pertaining to alcohol – prohibiting consumption in city parks, for instance – can be adopted later. But for the sake of our businesses, we need to get moving sooner rather than later. Every month this issue is delayed is a month that costs the city in terms of lost sales tax revenue and business activity. The time to act is now.