Senator John McCain said this when asked about the debacle concerning the NSA and domestic spying and whether or not the law was broken: "I don't know. I want to be perfectly clear. I don't know the answer. That's why I welcome the hearings."
Good man. I appreciate his candor and, I hope, heartfelt willingness to find out the truth. Of course, there are quite a number of people telling us what that truth is. There is so little absolute truth in the midst of personal opinion, but surely the greater truth can be found so that instead of talking, spinning heads, there would exist something to righteously affect.
I don't believe the entirety of Ben Franklin's quotation showcased in the picture at the top doesn't inherently change what the students intended to say. However, I do consider important that Franklin qualified himself:
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
There is little doubt, I think, concerning the illegality of the President's actions in pure philosophical terms. Yet a man cannot live on philosophy alone. Neither apart from, nor alone. I think the clarification of what Ben Franklin wrote establishes the reality in the midst of the philosophy, or the philosophy in the midst of reality - your pick. We cannot abandon forsaking the ideal of freedom and privacy, yet neither can we abandon the stark reality of world that is unquestionably grey. If we abandon the philosophy and ideals, savagery and chaos will reign. And if we deny the reality of our world, we similarly deny ourselves the opportunity to defend against the savagery.
There must be some balance point.
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