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This week, Rich Lowry, National Review Editor and author of Lincoln Unbound: How an Ambitious Young Railsplitter Saved the American Dream–and How We Can Do It Again sits in for the perpetually vacationing Peter Robinson to discuss his new book, the NSA, the IRS, and a host of other 3 letter acronyms. Also, is Edward Snowden a hero or a traitor? Can Honest Abe resurrect the party of Lincoln? And who autographed the only signed book in James Lileks’ personal library? Tune in to find out…
Music from this week’s show:
Somebody’s Watching Me by Rockwell
The Ricochet Podcast opening theme was composed and produced by James Lileks.
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I’m excited to hear this. I’ve been trying to decide in my own mind what I think of Lincoln. Do I take the libertarian line, the he’s the first in a long line of usurpers? Or do I take the more mainstream line, that Lincoln did the right thing in preserving the union and the Constitution? I honestly haven’t made up my mind. I’m currently reading another book on Lincoln which is very sympathetic (the name is escaping me for some reason) and I plan to read “The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War” after that. I suppose I’ll also have to read Lowery’s book. I’ve been thinking about putting a post up here on the subject, but I don’t feel like I’ve got enough information yet. At any rate, should be a good podcast.
I also am looking forward to this book having read the cover article in NR. It prompted me to re-read Andrew Ferguson’s “Land Of Lincoln” and I enjoyed it as much the second time as the first. There can never be too many posts/discussions about Lincoln for my liking.
Re: PRISM. As a high-information voter, civilian but still a veteran of NSA in the Cold War Era, here’s my conclusion: all PRISM looks like is a way for NSA to save time and money on its surfing of foreign targets. Instead of bookmarking Google, Yahoo, YouTube, etc., and going to each one individually to type in a search for “Zarqawi in Drag,” an NSA analyst can do it once, and PRISM goes off to find it in the box of info that Google, Yahoo, YouTube, etc. has obligingly filled. FISA court orders allow this much under the PATRIOT Act. If there are any hits, and some portion of the hits can be reasonably associated with a US person, then the 4th Amendment requires a warrant (with particulars) to go any deeper into the data. That sounds constitutional to me.
Some might ask: how does it differ from my own web surfing, and why does NSA need a program called PRISM to do it? The answer seems to be, this is a secure and secret (or was) tool and it is apparently streamlined by not letting Google etc. “push” certain content to the top of the results.
Thanks for that appropriate bumper music. I was happy to discover that song in my iPhone song library – and now it’s my default ringtone.
And, yes, I am a Verizon customer.
“I always feel like…. Somebody’s ‘liking’ Meeeee.”
“President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman”, by William Lee Miller, that’s the book I’m reading, in case anyone wanted to know.
I will try to put something together over the weekend; thanks for asking. If you have seen anything else I have posted on the issue this week, you know that I am not informed on the particulars of PRISM. My NSA experience is two decades old, meaning that I am not and never was cleared for this particular project–it was a different world with different technologies. Having said that, I haven’t seen anything in the news this week that makes me think that PRISM’s benefits to security and costs to liberty are wildly different than the anything I saw or heard about. Within the bounds of my own obligation to security, I will try to put together a bit of a primer.
I will try to put something together over the weekend; thanks for asking. If you have seen anything else I have posted on the issue this week, you know that I am not informed on the particulars of PRISM. My NSA experience is two decades old, meaning that I am not and never was cleared for this particular project–it was a different world with different technologies. Having said that, I haven’t seen anything in the news this week that makes me think that PRISM’s benefits to security and costs to liberty are wildly different than the anything I saw or heard about. Within the bounds of my own obligation to security, I will try to put together a bit of a primer. ·37 minutes ago
Let me second Sal’s request for a full-on post. Even if it’s just about the culture and mentality of the NSA (as much as you’re allowed to share such info), it would be well worth reading.
This podcast prompted following IMHO’s.
James the production values of the open and close are pro. I want to hear more from you.
Meeting the demands of brutal accuracy, the podcast is a better product without Peter’s need to questionate.
Rob, masterful in relating Lincoln meeting the needs of that time to our time. Thinking out loud.
Another thought provoking hour. My compliments and thanks
Dr. Steve- could you write a post on PRISM? I think your perspective would be a valuable contribution to what has been a largely uninformed (on both sides) discussion.
Is anyone else having trouble with finding the flagship podcast on Stitcher?
First I’ve heard about this. Will investigate. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Could just be me. I’m using the app for the first time and it may just be that I’m going about it wrong.