National [In]security

The U.S., which bitches endlessly about other countries' justice systems, continually comes up short with regard to to its own standards. Take the recent case of the former employee of the National Security Agency whose home was raided looking for evidence in a leak of documents. It took the government two and a half years just to indict him, and then, a year and a half later, the day before his trial was set to begin, the prosecution dropped all felony charges against him. So, after four years, they decided that they didn't have a case. Rightly so, the judge has chastised the prosecutors and praised the defense lawyers.

This is just another example of the difference between propaganda and reality in the United States, especially in cases involving "national security." And yet, this is exactly the sort of thing that the U.S. always criticized other countries for. The fact of the matter is that there isn't that big a difference when it comes down to protecting the State from perceived threats. Democracies react just as hysterically and unfairly as authoritarian regimes.

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