This diary appreciates the work of NYPD. Its legacy inspires many.
Since 2001, the American public has been asked to turn a blind eye to abusive conduct under the Constitution. Our government has asked that we endure FISA violations, police misconduct, abusive interrogations, trials without evidence, and harassing street interrogations and abuse.
Normally, the intelligence community and law enforcement are given deferential treatment, and the public is asked to grant forgiveness for abuses. Indeed, where the enemy's tactics, power, and support are strong, stronger measures are called for to confront, disrupt, defeat, dismantle, and ultimately prevail over that enemy.
Sadly, despite ten (10) long years of ground combat in the Iraq and Afghan theaters, on top of the subsequent abuses of POWs at Guantanamo, the black sites, Eastern Europe, and other CIA detention centers, the public is asked to continue keeping faith with the leadership in the law enforcement community.
Once, as the dust was still settling after 9-11, the nation's leadership was clear in their resolve: To impose power, inflict damage, and protect the public. The brave officers, detectives, undercover personnel, and worldwide resources of the New York Police Department were newly energized, awakened, and brought to bear on the enemy.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) leadership, staff, and personnel should be commended for their quick thinking, devotion to duty, and their willingness to even sacrifice their lives to defend their friends, neighbors, neighborhoods, and our American way of life under this Constitution.
It has been ten years. The dust has long settled. Our enemies overseas remain on the run, have been largely destroyed, and continue to remain the object of American national foreign policy: To ensure the protection of American life, property, lives, and our way of life.
NYPD personnel were and remain instrumental in this high calling, this noble requirement, and for their unfailing decision to put personal safety second to their service. Through the officers and leadership of the NYPD all Americans are safer, enjoy greater protections, and can rest soundly asleep that our enemies know they have formidable forces to contend when daring to confront Americans, our way of life, our our values enshrined in our Constitution.
Americans do not sit idly when their livelihoods, safety, and lives are put at risk by those bent on destroying what we cherish, what we have created, and what we dream is possible: Freedom, safety, and security for all peoples, whether they are at home or abroad.
Our calling as Americans is one that some have pointed to as a noble, holy, or divine one inspired by our Founders, perhaps even one God would place to His right.
It is with great respect and acknowledgement for the NYPD accomplishments and contributions that we understand where we have come, and what must be done to preserve the gains the NYPD have so strongly supported.
Our way of life rests on the backs of a Constitution, and brave people who dare to put personal safety in service of others, the rule of law, and our way of life. Without this commitment, decision, and promise by NYPD personnel, many of us would not be enjoying the way of life we have.
New York is the financial capital of the world. New York is the center of diplomatic communications, negotiations, and state-level diplomacy. New York is and remains unparalleled in its contribution to our nation's history, culture, and leadership around the globe.
In the wake of 9-11, the American government reacted, responded, and mobilized with boldness. New Yorkers knew well what must be done, and they remained at the tip of the spear calling for and contributing to the national mobilization to ensure the safety, protection, defense, and victory of our way of life, our values, our rule of law, and our Constitution.
As the dust settles, the threats continue. Our ground, air, and sea forces remain engaged in active combat operations around the globe. The enemy remains on the run, still poised to act, and continues to plan. These threats are real. They are threats the people of New York, the NYPD, and intelligence personnel well know.
These threats are ones which demand difficult management decisions. NYPD leadership are forced to confront an enemy that moves without notice, and one that is bent on destruction, chaos, and death.
That enemy cannot go unchallenged, especially when New Yorkers and Americans remain under threat of destruction, loss of life, and attack.
New Yorkers, Americans, and our world allies remain united in our resolve to assert power, defend what remains right, noble, and just; and are committed to moving forward.
At issue is how long the decisions after 9-11 will remain unreviewed. Indeed, there were difficult decisions, with no guide book other than principles, the rule of law, and a desire to prevail.
That momentum should not be one the American public shirks from supporting, especially when the NYPD personnel are doing their best to ensure victory over things Americans and civilized people cannot tolerate: Abusive, unquenched, and unrestrained use and abuse of power at the expense of all things we value.
Ten years since 9-11 is a long time. There is no "imminent" threat linked to the events of 9-11; there is a pervasive sense that the crisis has abated, but not ended.
Ten years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, would bring us to 1951, many years after the end of WWII, but still within the Cold War where the threat of tyranny continued on the Korean Peninsula.
Domestically, there remained legitimate concerns that the United States government and our way of life remained the object of desire of agents of the Russians, then called the Soviet Union. The records reveal Russian and others in the Eastern bloc continued their WWII-era espionage in the United States with one goal: Of defeating America, and replacing this government with something which is inferior, less respectful of our way of life, and one that is a threat to our Constitution.
Then, difficult decisions were made to infiltrate organizations, monitor people, and protect what remained the American way of life.
Unchecked, those abuses flourished. Vietnam protestors were harassed. Political opponents put under surveillance. And American citizens questioned how far this government would go to preserve which values.
After the 1960s, Americans learned we could respect the rights of those we formerly said were lesser people. Americans learned that despite government abuses, there could be workable solutions to regulate government abuses, and ensure meaningful restraint on power.
Our way of life then as now is not a false choice between what we have and something that is inferior. Rather, solutions by definition move us forward, bring improvement, and better assert our values while protecting our fundamental way of life.
The American public is inching deeper into a needed public exploration of what improvements are needed to better support NYPD; while still preserving our Constitution.
Our Constitution remains a document NYPD personnel are required to swear allegiance; one that is above all things; and to which they proudly serve in overt and covert capacities. Nothing can detract from NYPD personnel who choose to use their language skills to monitor domestic enemies of the Constitution.
Nor can NYPD personnel abandon faith that the public stands with them in their noble calling to protect New Yorkers, defend this Constitution, and ensure victory over domestic and foreign enemies of the United States, New York City, and our friends and allies overseas.
New Yorkers have the difficult responsibility to open doors to foreigners so that United Nation's personnel can conduct their business. NYPD officers are instrumental in working with federal, state, and local officials to ensure the safety of the visiting diplomats, their families, and the properties of foreign powers.
Our enemies do use the cover of diplomacy to plan acts of aggression, destruction, and chaos. Our enemies will not sleep, nor will they sleep because the NYPD personnel, leadership, and resources are devoted to protecting us, this Constitution, and our way of life.
The public debate is one the public decides. The NYPD officers, personnel, contractors, and leadership are part of the public which can provide inputs to this public debate.
Before us are questions of abuse, as documented in various civil rights claims, and emerging evidence connected with domestic surveillance.
Our choice, during this debate, is not to either do nothing about the abuse, or choose something that permits favor to our enemies.
Rather, the heart of the debate is: What does the public decide should be done going forward to better preserve the Constitution, defend New Yorkers, preserve our way of life, and ensure safety and security for lives, property, and principles.
The debate is not a choice between giving into terrorists, or turning a blind eye to abuses in government.
Nor is that choice simply one of condoning an enemy, or condoning abusive government.
We showed the world during and after WWII that we do not have to sacrifice principle to defeat an enemy. There's no reason America citizens or government institution should operate as if the choice were different.
No, we do not have to condone abusive interrogations to defend our way of life. Our way of life shows us that information can be gleaned without abuse; and that abuse gives us unreliable information.
No, we do not have to condone violations of the rule of law, our Constitution, or the FISA to defeat an enemy. Solutions that fall within the contours of the law are approaches which apply the lessons of history.
No, we do not have to condone trials of foreign agents or combatants that use illegally gathered evidence. The goal of justice is not to destroy, but to grant justice. Justice cannot be won at the expense of the reputations of NYPD personnel; nor can it be built on the backs of leaders who put something other than our Constitution at the heart of their duty.
Our Constitution is our way of life. We can debate how that Constitution should be improved, modified, reformed, transformed, changed, or modernized to better preserve the established order.
Our choice is not between turning a blind eye to injustice or confronting threats to justice. Justice is just that: Justice to move forward.
The forums for these debates, discussions, and confrontations are at the local level, in small groups, within local government, and extend from state to federal agencies, legislative bodies, committees, unions, and associations.
Justice does not require us to be unjust; it requires us to confront the unjust.
It is unjust for American leaders to continue to expect American citizens to endure intrusions into their private lives, but then remove from the table all options to address that grievance.
It is unjust for American law enforcement to gathering private information that has no logical connection to criminal activity.
It is unjust for American intelligence personnel to claim they are acting to defend our way of life while abandoning and breaching those principles.
NYPD officers, agents, contractors, and leadership appear to be acting in an unjust manner. The public debate is not one for NYPD to define, but for the public to assert.
Our debate is whether the NYPD officers, leadership, agents, undercover personnel can or cannot be trusted to independently operate to operate within the Constitution, conduct their business, defend the Constitution, and remain a viable entity worthy of public respect, trust, and confidence.
The NYPD does not have a perpetual grant of authority. Their power is conditional, especially as it relates to public oversight.
It appears NYPD lately is operating as if the public is their steward. This does not recognize the oath. NYPD personnel are stewards of our Constitution.
Stewardship means taking care of business while the public is away or not able to check. Sadly, NYPD personnel appear to act, in some cases, as if their stewardship is something that will replace the public.
That is a miscalculation. The public does not serve NYPD. NYPD services the Constitution; and the Constitution is a document that falls under We the People.
We the People are permitted to discuss changes to the Constitution, even going as far as designing a new system that will better assist NYPD is achieving victory: Preserving the rule of law, protecting the Constitution from domestic enemies, and successfully supporting efforts to defeat forces bent on destruction of our way of life, property, and friends.
NYPD officers, agents, contractors, informants, and personnel do not need to be reminded of 9-11. But, lately with the revelations of abuses, it appears they need to be reminded of their oath to the Constitution.
Some within NYPD ranks are not comfortable with what has happened. Rest assured your reservations are not isolated, but share by your peers within the intelligence community, law enforcement, and national leadership within the defense industry.
Indeed, it may be true our enemies are lurking; the question is whether NYPD would like to participate in a public discussion to defend the Constitution, or whether they would like to make excuses to avoid discussing the public has started to discuss.
The Founders warned us of the threat of tyranny; our oath is not to man but to the rule of law and the Constitution. Our debate must consider what should be done when there remain domestic enemies within law enforcement and the intelligence community who ignore the law, abuse power, and treat American citizens and our allies must be challenged over our beliefs.
We the People enshrined our belief about governance within the Constitution. NYPD appears to put itself above the Constitution, and act as if they know best: That it is somehow acceptable to deceive our friends in other cities, gather information on them, then not have the courtesy to subject that activity to the review of those who government those non-NYPD jurisdictions.
NYPD should be commended for creating, supporting, and exploiting an intelligence collection system which monitors people who could be threats to our way of life. The debate is whether that NYPD function as designed, implemented, and reviewed is one that fully supports the Constitution, or narrowly supports NYPD objectives over the Constitution.
We don't know. The public debate is whether NYPD will participate in that review and discussion; or whether it will be the object of external scrutiny.
NYPD should be commended for creating a large intelligence operation which appears beyond simple oversight by New Yorkers. Indeed, there are threats which NYPD should have a voice in monitoring.
However, the public debate is whether the information gathered has improperly encroached on protections the Framers enshrined in the Constitution. Indeed, Franklin warned us that there may be a choice between freedom and safety. The choice is whether NYPD can be trusted to provide public confidence it puts the Constitution first to achieve its mandate of ensuring freedom and protecting public safety.
Now that NYPD personnel have departed their local jurisdiction, one matter of public interest is whether non-New York leaders, attorney generals, and prosecutors are serious about balancing their oath and obligations to the Constitution over their loyalty to their peers in New York.
Perhaps they are. Perhaps that is an issue of public debate. The FISA Reform Act shows us that Congress and the President will diligently work to remove tools from the states to check the abuse of power.
One matter of public debate is what the public can lawfully do when the options to defend the Constitution have been (arguably, illegally) removed from the list of options.
NYPD may view its operations as necessary, even when they may appear unlawful. However, a larger question is whether the public should accept a Presidential claim of "privilege" when federal executive power masks local executive misconduct.
The American government does not have a solid footing to justify public confidence that these law enforcement abuses connected with NYPD will get reviewed. Congress and the President know full well that federal government taskings go through ODNI to local law enforcement. That invites questions through a public debate: When Congressional staffers first learned of the planned NYPD operations; and did they fully assert their oath to defend the Constitution.
No government remains beyond review, especially by the source of power: We the People. NYPD personnel have it backwards: They're not defending us; we're enabling NYPD.
Our delegation of power through the Constitution does not bind us to enable abuse of power, especially when that authority is abused in secret, and removes options to review, check, and monitor that abuse.
We the People understand the events of 9-11, and the role NYPD personnel played to defend this Constitution, our way of life, and the the safety and security of our friends, property, and principles.
What We the People do not understand is why NYPD continues to operate as if the source of power -- We the People -- are somehow an enemy to be challenged; one to be confronted; or a body to be perpetually treated as if we have no option.
We do. We the People have the option to challenge each other to discuss what should be done, even if NYPD personnel do not cooperate. We can discuss a viable alternative to the current system of governance. One that will better check power, preserve rights, and ensure the common defense.
NYPD can decide to not participate in what will be a reform. It may choose to stonewall. But the public debate will continue: What is a solution?
We the People have shown we have formidable allies around the globe who will come to our assistance. After 9-11, we saw an outpouring of support for our government, our way of life, and our commitment to do justice and prevail.
We have prevailed. We have preserved our way of life. Unfortunately, NYPD has not accepted that the best defense to the Constitution is to treat our allies, friends, and neighbors with respect.
It is disrespectful for NYPD to intrude upon our private lives, especially when people express honest opinions about government operations. Loyal people, faithful to the Constitution, have not been trusted to conduct their affairs without NYPD intrusions.
But the abuses are not isolated to New York. Nor to NYPD.
The NYPD has been an example of careful planning, artful execution, but they have failed to adequately maintain solid public support for their methods.
The public has not done anything to warrant this abuse of power. NYPD does not deserve to be blamed, but reformed, as with the other segments of our national law enforcement and intelligence systems.
It is a matter of public interest why the NYPD leadership denied the existence of operations which have intruded not just into the lives of New Yorkers, but the citizens across the country and around the globe.
It might be one thing for NYPD officers to abuse citizens during interrogations, field stops, or search and seizure. Now, the public learns that the problem isn't isolated to NYPD abusing criminals, but mistreating honest, hardworking civilians, regardless their nationality, ethnic origin.
What makes the NYPD conduct repulsive is that the organization appears to act as if they will get immunity, have no consequences, and remain above public accountability.
That stonewalling was the arrogance which inspired the Founders to create a new system. NYPD arrogance does not solve problems, it ensures the problem becomes more obvious, even to former NYPD allies and supporters.
NYPD appears to define success as if it will "win" when it successfully annoys the entire civilian population, regardless the abuse, geography, or political affiliation.
Indeed, NYPD has rested too long on its laurels, remains immune to oversight, and is riding on the coat tails of its enablers in Washington DC: The senior staffers, legislators, agency personnel, and executive department officers who refuse to conduct oversight, pull on the leash, or restrain power.
The Church Committee well documented some of the abuses. One matter of public debate is how long We the People will defer to a system of governance that is more loyal to secrecy than the Constitution. We are not required to continue supporting a Constitution with the false argument that "something else" is inferior.
No, an alternative could be an improvement for both NYPD and We the People. Outside eyes shed light on the abuses in the 1960s. Those prying eyes exposed corruption within the financial industry.
Solutions are, by definition, good governance. It is absurd to suggest that public oversight or debate will result in inferior solutions. To suggest otherwise asks us to believe that an informed debate will only be supportable if it falls within criteria and conditions favorable only to the NYPD; without consideration to the needs, values, and interests of We the People.
The longer the American government, NYPD officials, and New Yorkers pretend that the NYPD operations are not a matter of public debate, the more the abuses will grow to make that a foregone conclusion.
It would be better to embrace reform, not hide behind the White House pretending to be confused why the public support for law enforcement has waned. That support has waned because the threat has ebbed abroad, but the abuses continue and grow at home.
We the People were assured that when government abuses power, there will be remedies. That calculation works as long as there is an honest effort to remedy the situation, not enable the abuses.
We the People do not have all the information; but absolute knowledge is not something this government requires before it makes speedy decisions. We the People should not be required to make speedy decisions to enable something which requires careful, thoughtful public debate before modernizing.
NYPD are granted the thanks of some who wondered how long the abuses would continue before someone stepped forward to say, "Enough." The abuses may not end soon, but at least one (1) person raised a question. That is a start.
It only takes one person. The debate is one that should thank NYPD for exposing how far a government will go in the name of the rule of law, all the while making excuses to do something other than what the Constitution was designed to do: Preserve rights, delegate power, restrain abuses, check tyranny, and define the established order.
On the table is a question of what that established order should look like; what is required to define that improvement; and what roles new actors might need to more aggressively protect the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, especially when they walk the halls of the intelligence and law enforcement community.
On the able is a question of what mechanisms are needed to ensure citizens outside one state are properly defended against the abuses by personnel, agents, and contractors operating out of another state.
On the table is a question of what lawful remedies are required when the President and Congress agree to remove options to provide for relief when the rights, privileges, and immunities are stripped from We the People.
On the table is a question of what powers, rights, and privileges -- beyond what are defined in the Bill of Rights -- need to be expressly reserved for We the People so that leadership remains reminded of what lawful options exist when power, authority, and privilege are abused.
On the table is a question of what lawful options are needed when the Executive, Congress, and personnel working in positions of trust in the intelligence community and law enforcement put something other than the Constitution first.
On the table is a question of what remedies are required to ensure that data and databases are both subject to legal compliance reviews; but there are exceptions to the Constitution which enable abuses the Framers and We the People did not intend to go unchallenged.
On the table is a question of which legal responsibilities NYPD personnel have when they choose to depart from what the Constitution permits; and what they are required to do when they engage in conduct that breaches the established order.
The established order has enabled abuses, not confronted the deviations. It's been ten (10) years since the tragedy of 9-11. On the table is the question of what We the People will do to proceed; how much abuse is required to mobilize which lawful support for reform; and the appropriate options to defend the Constitution, even from domestic enemies within the ranks of law enforcement and the intelligence community.
On the table remains the perpetual, lawful threat that the current delegation of power by We the People might be revoked; and the redelegation of power would more effectively pursue the principles we value, while still protecting our liberty, and fully supporting reasonable governance.
The debate and solutions are not confined to closed doors.
NYPD should be thanked for centralizing the documents, helping the public see the abuses, and forcing the hand of its leadership to explain the unexplainable: The abuse of power at the direction of the President, Congress, law enforcement leadership and intelligence community.
Thank you for making our jobs easier: Of highlighting what needs attention; what requires reform; and creating a catalyst for artful discussion within the public arena: What needs to change to better do what NYPD, other institutions and people have failed to preserve in This Constitution.
Thank you NYPD, and the excellent reporting of the Associated Press.