Is President Obama reviving the Cold War?

Like anyone over the age of 30, I grew up under an imminent threat of a nuclear holocaust brought upon by the big bad Russians.

I learned that the Russians hated us for our capitalism. And that their primary goal in life was to convert us all into communist socialist Bolshevik Leninst Marxists … or something. If they couldn’t do that, then they’d resort to the nuclear thing. I learned that if hid under my desk with my head between my knees, I could survive the bombs that were undoubtedly about to be dropped on my elementary school without warning.

Fast forward about 30 years and the Cold War has been replaced by the War on Terrorism. Russians have been replaced by religious extremists. They still hate us for our capitalism — or freedom, depending on who you ask. And duck and cover has been replaced by duct tape and plastic sheeting … in case of a Sarin gas attack.

So maybe it’s no wonder President Barack Obama seems hellbent on restarting the Cold War. It was much less stressful than the War on Terror.

I’m being somewhat facetious about the president bringing back the old Red Scare … but I have been shaking my head at some of his sabre rattling and posturing in his dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Just Wednesday, the White House announced that the president has canceled his Moscow visit with Putin next month. This is in response to a litany of issues the U.S. has had with Russia over the past few months, culminating in Russia offering asylum to Eric Snowden, who has become Public Enemy No. 1.

Obviously the most logical thing to do when you’re upset with someone is to refuse to discuss the things you’re upset about. Ask anyone who’s ever gotten divorced.

The president said earlier this week that the Putin administration occasionally slips into a “Cold War mentality.”

I think canceling scheduled meetings in order to emasculate the other party — which many political strategists have said is Obama’s strategy — is a return to a Cold War style of thinking.

What’s worse is that the political strategists I’ve read have been in lock-step agreement that Obama’s strategy is a good one. Apparently they miss the Cold War.

I, for one, would prefer that we show some leadership and learn to deal with people we disagree with instead of taking our ball and going home, which is pretty much the equivalent of what we’re doing here.

Scott Leffler is a Cold War kid with fond recollections of duck and cover drills. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler. 

We are citizens -- not subjects

The NSA scandal rolls on and government types on both sides of the proverbial aisle continue to support this atrocity that turns the people of the United States from citizens into subjects — or should I say pets?

On Wednesday, the National Security Agency acknowledged that when investigating one suspected terrorist, it can read and store the phone records of millions of Americans. That’s a huge upgrade from the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, that’s for sure.

According to a story by the Associated Press, it’s quite easy for Americans with no connection to terrorism to unwittingly have their calling patterns analyzed by the government because of what’s known as “hop” or “chain” analysis.

The story said, “When the NSA identifies a suspect, it can look not just at his phone records, but also the records of everyone he calls, everyone who calls those people and everyone who calls those people.”

In other words, if a “suspected terrorist” ordered a pizza and you ordered a pizza from the same place, you are automatically in league with said “terrorist.”

Yes, I’m puttiing “terrorist” in quotes because I’m not entirely sure how the government defines terrorism any more. It used to be pretty black and white but these days everything is a shade of gray. I have a feeling anyone who ever protested anything might be in some database of being potentially a terrorist. This would include me.

Of course, the government has to watch out for itself — and moreover the people it was sworn to protect. But it needs to also watch out for the Constitution that it was also sworn to protect. And I have serious reservations about the Constitutionality of many of the ongoing government surveillance programs.

The problem with ignoring the Constitution and just doing whatever-they-damn-well-please is that in doing so, they’re turning the people of this country into mere subjects. Instead of power flowing up from us (via the ballot booth), it trickles down from Washington to us … in scant doses.

And just like the trickle-down economy is a complete fallacy, a trickle-down power structure is equally flawed. By the time it gets down to folks like you and I, the power is so diluted that it couldn’t run a flashlight, let alone a country.

I realize that there were also members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who are livid about the abuse of power in the NSA. I find that somewhat heartening. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered by those who believe that government is all-important and we aren’t.

Unless you’re content with becoming a subject — rather than a citizen — I recommend you make some noise and complain. But be forewarned, as I already said that I imagine all complainers are added to the top of the “terrorist” watch list.

Scott Leffler sometimes orders pizza with mushrooms. The NSA already knew that. And now you do, too. Follow his public tweets @scottleffler. For a more in-depth look at his life, get a job at the NSA.