BETWEEN THE LINES

TURNING TABLES ON POLICE STATE

Exclusive: Joseph Farah stresses congressional method for finding scandal answers now

Published: 12 hours ago
JOSEPH FARAH

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of congressional investigations asking Barack Obama’s administration for documents and answers in a trifecta of scandals and getting nowhere.

Why, I keep wondering, does Congress merely ask?

First of all, Congress is clearly the most powerful branch of government under the Constitution. It’s not even a close call.

But, secondly, why not get the answers elsewhere?

As most Americans know, the government snoops on everyone – including every type of communication.

Periodically, the truth about this leaks out to the public. Most Americans yawn or complain to their neighbors and friends. And that’s how police surveillance states are built over time.

But, given the existence of this surveillance network, why is Congress calling witnesses and holding hearings on Benghazi when all they have to do is access the recordings of all the military, CIA and National Security Agency communications before, during and after the hostilities in Libya?

Are all these hearings and demands for information simply window dressing for another cover-up?

Hey, the truth is out there. If government isn’t collecting all this information for a time like this, what is it collecting it for?

Wouldn’t it be nice to actually put the surveillance state to work for the people and for truth just for once?

If any member of Congress is listening to me, let me make this really simple for you: You have the power to get the truth on Benghazi and IRS-gate and Fast and Furious and Reportergate. All the information you need is being collected by agencies over which you have oversight. You don’t have to beg for information from the perpetrators of these crimes in the White House. You don’t have to get subpoenas. You don’t have to battle in court over executive privilege. You don’t even have to tell the public what you are doing. Just do it.

Go and get the answers the American people are crying out for.

Please don’t tell me you don’t know how.

If you do, you’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.

It’s time the data collection systems the government has been constructing for decades be used to hold government officials accountable to the people and the Constitution. That’s all I’m suggesting. Congress has the absolute power to do this.

There’s another nice upside to this strategy: If it works, maybe government officials won’t be so eager to ignore the protections afforded to all Americans by the Fourth Amendment.

I wrote about this recently and the response was overwhelmingly positive. People get it. Glenn Beck picked up on it immediately. Now the question is whether members of Congress will get it.

You can help by forwarding this column to your own representatives and senators. Tell them to stop being timid with regard to the investigation of these scandals. It’s time to seek the truth using all of their power. Tell them to stop fooling around by asking those involved in stonewalling the truth to give up documents and information when that truth is within their grasp.

The longer these scandals are permitted to fester without the truth, the less likely it is we will ever learn the truth.

It’s time to turn the tables on the surveillance state by using it on itself.

The only excuse government officials would have not to pursue such a strategy is the fear of being held accountable for participating in the creations of such a monster.

http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/turning-t...-police-state/