I hate to say I told you so...

For years I've assumed that the government had back doors in software, operating systems mostly, but I have to say even I'm a little stunned if the latest round of disclosures about the NSA are true.

I suppose I should have been a little more worried about it, but I always assumed that since I really don't have anything to hide, I didn't have to worry about it.  I was wrong.   My wife and three stepchildren are all foreign nationals (UK citizens) so I'm going to assume that everything that goes on in my house is monitored.

This is illegal.

They all have green cards that pre-date our marriage.  I am a US born citizen.  I am positive this is a violation of the constitution and my rights as a US citizen.

Now it comes out that the NSA has the ability to do this to hardware devices and *has* been doing so for a while.  This is going to cripple companies like Cisco and Juniper as well as HP and Dell and probably Apple.  Everyone was worried about Huawei, and I'm positive rightfully so, but I'd be willing to bet nobody in the EU will buy any of our stuff anymore.  I'm already reading online where other IT pros are looking for equipment from a different country.  Which country?  Can you assume any other country is trustworthy?

This is also illegal.

At what time is it acceptable to tear up the constitution in the name of "security"?   Maybe if we're in a state of martial law, but we're not.  At least the last time I checked.

So I wonder what I'm supposed to do.  If a liberal president like Obama can't stop it who can?  I can't see anyone further to the left here getting elected, and I suspect we're going to get another Republican next time, so we'll get more of the same.

I guess it's true.  Freedom dies with a whimper instead of a roar, and a quote from John Calhoun:

"It is harder to preserve than to obtain liberty"