PRISM Spy Program: Snowden may be a nobody, but liberty is not - by Hoppy Kercheval

Edward Snowden

The night of Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush addressed the nation and said, among other things, that the terrorists had failed in their attempt to frighten the nation.

"Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America," Bush said.

But as we approach the 12th anniversary of the attacks, there is evidence that our response to terrorism has the potential of undermining the bedrock principles of the country - individual freedom and personal liberty.

Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old former employee of a security contractor for the National Security Agency, has shocked the country with revelations about the NSA's massive data collection system.

We don't know if Snowden is the most significant whistleblower of the information age or just a computer geek with a self-inflated sense of importance or a combination of the two.

We should know eventually, but in the meantime many Americans are wondering whether the government has crossed the shifting line of demarcation that separates the desire for security from the constitutional protection of our privacy.

Those in charge of the security know they are the first and last line of defense. If the intelligence community overreaches to the point of bending or even violating Constitutional protections, Americans will become even more angry and cynical about the essential institution of government.

The best case is that the revelation of the encompassing surveillance produces a national discussion about how we go about protecting our country without trampling on liberty.

But if we are not so inclined, fear and suspicion may take hold. Then President Bush will have been wrong about an unshakable foundation.

Read more: Snowden may be a nobody, but liberty is not  - Hoppy Kercheval - Charleston Daily Mail - West Virginia News and Sports -