10.27.13: NSA's Long Term Damage to U.S. Foreign Relations

Indicative of how America can only focus on itself, the first topic (Obamacare) on today's "Meet The Press," in the grand scale of things, was less important than the second (NSA wiretapping and U.S. foreign policy).  In an age where information is the true power, the United States' ambition of remaining the sole superpower in the world is fully intact.  The newest round of revelations provided by Edward Snowden show that the NSA is monitoring and collecting information on French and German citizens along with 35 world leaders including the apparent tapping of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone for over the past decade. 

We should all just suffice to say that the NSA is collecting digital data across the globe, on everyone; it would be foolish to think otherwise.  However, ultimately this could leave the U.S. more isolated as it alienates long-time allies who will now be less prone to assist the United States in gathering information about real terror networks.  Trying to achieve peace and safety through distrust really isn't permanent proposition.

Congressman Peter King (R-NY) said that the president should stop apologizing for the NSA activities as he explained that many lives have been saved because of their activities.  But what does that have to do with tapping a world leader's phone, especially Ms. Merkel's who has been one of the strongest allies of the United States over her tenure as German Chancellor?  Mr. King used a WWII analogy to explain why the United States should continue its eavesdropping spy activities; something that this column stays away from doing and here's why.  Mr. King explained that if the United States were able to monitor communications in Germany in the 1940's, think of all the lives that could have been saved from slaughter.  Maybe that could have been the case, however what we also know about the Nazis is that they cataloged millions of people.  Some would protest that the NSA is committing a twenty-first century version of that.  See the slippery slope an analogy like that presents.

The point is that the Obama Administration set out to regain the trust of our allies around the world after the Bush Administration committed to a series of decisions that left the judgement of the United States in question.  But the Obama Administration has not succeeded in its goal and has in actuality has presided over a period that has seen international trust erode even more.

In addition to the NSA revelations, this week the Saudis declined their temporary seat of the United Nations' Security Council, a protest over the United States' handling of the Syrian civil war and its outreach to Iran.

The Obama Administration talked tough on Syria and then they backed away.  As Mr. Gregory pointed out, people will be inclined to think that if Syria is 'defanged' of its chemical weapons, then the Administration can call its strategy a success.  That's a big 'if.'  With regard to dealings with Iran, the Administration must take a tactic more like that of say Vladimir Putin where it is willing to listen to conciliatory statements but only with the clear understanding that trust has not been established.  At this same time, the United States would be making transparent overtures to Israel and other allies in the region for deepening ties so much so that Iran gets the message.

The Obama Administration has been very good at capturing and killing Al Qaeda leaders, there is no doubt.  However, on the wider scale, the administration hasn't been successful in rebuilding trust and this will most certainly come back to bite the U.S. if it can not course correct, despite what Congressman King would tell you.

Where we have some sympathy for the president is in the fact that he's getting no help from the Republican party members, because of petty politics.  In a wired world, everyone can see the infighting of the United States Congress so people understand that the U.S. is having trouble speaking with one voice, and hence it renders the United States distrusted and unreliable.

In addition to not getting help on foreign policy, the administration and its disastrous opening of  Obamacare isn't gaining any friends at home.  We cut the administration some slack when it comes to the roll-out of the Affordable Healthcare Act because the aim of the law is to provide healthcare to as many people as possible while at the same time lowering costs overall, and that makes the law worth trying.  The other reason is that we just can not get on board with Republican criticisms because conservatives have offered no alternative, none at all. 

And even though today's panel was basically a frivolous waste of time as each member simply tried to talk over one another filling the air with empty ideological rhetoric, we do agree with Republican strategist Alex Castellanos when he said that if the Republican party continues to be lead by the 'oppose everything' philosophy of Ted Cruz - being the party of 'no' - then they will go nowhere.  Mr. Cruz has yet to present an alternative idea to the country's healthcare troubles, and going to back to how it was with costs continually rising is not the answer.

However, Mr. Castellanos was definitely not the point of reason on the panel, but the object example of why we should take what all of them had to say with a grain of salt.  Mr. Castellanos explained the Obamacare is the result of old-Washington philosophy that the government can create a top-down program and it will work.  He went on to say that programs work with they come from the bottom up.  It sounds real nice, but it's completely disingenuous when you realize that this is an individual who has been instrumental and a continuing advocate for trickle down economics, an economic philosophy that is based a top-down direction. 

Fixable web site glitches aside, here's what you have to keep your eye on with regard to Obamacare: In the states where they have decided to embrace the law and accept the federal money, is the program working?  The answer is that yes it is working right now like in Governor Beshear's state of Kentucky.  The other question that Mr. Gregory kept bringing up that no one could answer is what happens if not enough young and healthy individuals enroll - a key to the program's success? That's an unknown that needs to be considered.

We should take Governor Beshear's advice and just chill out over Obamacare. America is all about trying, tinkering, and fixing new things, an attitude that shouldn't be sacrificed because of the fear of a few politically motivated individuals.

The computer program problems that Americans should be most worried about are not the ones caused by Kathleen Sebelius and the Department of Health & Human Services but the ones emanating from the National Security Agency.


Roundtable: 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum; former Michigan Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm; President of the Center for American Progress Neera Tanden; and Republican strategist Alex Castellanos.