It's A Bird, It's A Plane, Wait.......Is It The NSA?

On January 24, 2014, Fox News released an article about the Pentagon planning to deploy two large blimp like aircraft around ten thousand feet above Washington, D.C.  These are the same aircraft that have been used by the U.S. military in the Middle East as well as along the United States and Mexico border for surveillance purposes.  These aircraft are equipped with military grade, high altitude surveillance systems that can detect low flying objects, such as missiles or drones, up to 340 miles away.  The Pentagon’s reasoning for placing them above the U.S. Capital is strictly for security purposes in the event that any enemy missile or aircraft begin to approach the capital.  These aircraft have the ability to carry powerful surveillance systems capable of tracking people and vehicles up to 140 miles away.  The U.S. Army did not rule out the idea of mounting these camera systems on the aircraft.

Would this bother you if the government placed these same aircraft above our city?  Would you feel that the government would be violating your 4^th amendment right, especially after not ruling out the option of placing the surveillance system that is capable of tracking people when this is supposed to be used for “flying objects?”  

Some things such as this article do not get noticed to a lot of the public and might go unnoticed for some time.  One of the main reasons for that is that modern American citizens are not politically engaged enough to see such articles, much less any political topic.

I believe that this is a very important topic because it is leaning on, if not crossing, Americans 4^th amendment right.  We are in a time where we have the ability to track and record information such as phone calls, text messages, emails, and much more electronically through today’s technology.  The NSA (National Security Agency) claims that all attempts to monitor and record such data have been used solely for national security purposes such as against terror attacks.  I love America and I happily pay my taxes and want to live in a safe place.  With that being said, some privacy will have to be given to the government in order for them to do their jobs.  It is risk versus reward.  However, I do believe that there have been plenty of sketchy scenarios regarding the NSA and other government bodies with regards to their “national security” card they like to play so often.  If the government is going to go down this road, which it may need to in order to protect our land, then they need to get some sort of technology law in place with regards to the 4^th amendment.  As of right now, they are stomping all over it, not only with the blimp style aircraft, but with plenty of other operations that they have ongoing as we type our blogs.

4^th Amendment - The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.