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The Canary In The Coal Mine

Dec 02, 2013
by Caroline Miller
Diane Feinstein, Edward Snowden, PEN report on writer's response to NSA survveillance, Senate Select Committe on Intelligence
4 Comments

I wrote a note to U. S. Senator Diane Feinstein a few days ago. Feinstein serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and I was disappointed to learn she had labeled Edward Snowden a traitor because he’d taken his information about government surveillance to the press rather than to her. As I listened to her remarks, several thoughts collided in my head. First, I wondered if she’d forgotten the long history whistleblowers have with the free press when government ethics are called into question? Second, I wondered if she couldn’t see how her repudiation reflected upon herself. As a ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, she is expected to know the scope of NSA’s surveillance. She avows that she didn’t. If true, that ignorance speaks volumes about her ability to right the wrong.

 Worse, Feinstein’s umbrage doesn’t suit the occasion. Can she and likeminded colleagues really be so insular and self-regarding that they fail to recognize how little of the public’s trust they hold?

 Recently, PEN, an association of professional writers, sent me the results of a questionnaire to which I and others responded. The results were so startling they were reported in The New York Times. What the data showed was that writers have “never been so worried about our privacy rights and freedom of the press as they are today.“ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/books/pen-american-center-survey-finds-caution-among-members.html?_r=0.  What’s more a significant number admitted they had curtailed activities on social media and steered clear of certain types of emails and phone calls. Sixteen percent admitted they now avoided writing or speaking about hot button issues.

 I hope Feinstein and her fellow members of Congress saw the report and paid attention. Artists are like the canaries in the coal mine. They are keen observers of society. Any decline in their willingness to exercise free speech is a harbinger of rougher times ahead. This is the inconvenient truth of which all of us should be aware.

canary in coal mine

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Courtesy of socialevolutionforum.com)

 

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4 Comments
  1. Bill Whitlatch December 2, 2013 at 9:43 am Reply
    You are my hero! Excellent article.
    • Caroline Miller December 2, 2013 at 9:51 am Reply
      Thank you Bill. Fortunately for you, me and the country a writer organization like PEN exists to sound the alarm.
  2. Christine Webb December 2, 2013 at 2:23 pm Reply
    Caroline, you have written this blog with such passion and clairity. Am hoping that in addition to reading the results of the PEN survey, Senator Feinstein will also read the sentiments you expressed to her in your note. The courage to write, or speak, regardless of the fear one might have for the consequences in doing so, is a value Senator Feinstein and her co-politicians would derive great benefit from, if they were able to do so. She would do well by having you in her corner. Thanks for writing this blog...
    • Caroline Miller December 2, 2013 at 4:49 pm Reply
      Usuually, I am in Feinstein's corner but of late she seems to be moving down a path I can't follow. I appreciate that you took the time to share your comment. These are perilous times and speaking out, as you say, is important. I'm glad you are with me on this one.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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