The White House released the report on the NSA from a Presidential Advisory Committee last week, supposedly earlier than expected, offering the American people a chance to “draw their own conclusions.” Here’s my open letter in response:

Dear President Obama:

You have lost my support, and the support of many I know, due to the way you’ve handled the unprecedented, unconstitutional and morally indefensible surveillance carried out by the NSA against citizens of the US and the world. Providing continued authorization of programs started by your predecessors was a mistake, and by obstructing public discourse and judicial oversight, you embarrass the United States and unnecessarily bring suspicion and condemnation from business, governments and people the world over. You are recklessly spending hundreds of billions of dollars and frittering away American credibility, debts that I do not want to be responsible for, yet ones that will fall to me as a taxpayer, citizen, and engineer. It’s time for a change.

So far, you and your administration have been unabashedly two-faced about these spying programs. You say you welcome public debate, yet you denied the existence of these programs for years, you allowed the Director of National Intelligence to lie before Congress about the actions of the NSA, and you filled your inquiry committee with biased intelligence insiders, to name just a few of your obstructionist tactics. You claim to defend the rights of whistle blowers, but your administration has prosecuted more of them than all other presidents’, combined, and you have charged the man who brought these unconstitutional actions of the government into the public light with treason. You argue that this data is vital to fighting terrorism, yet you cannot provide a single instance where it was necessary (as opposed to legal means of gathering information), and you continue to allow the data to be used for purposes other that fighting terrorism. That is conduct unbecoming of anyone, let alone a President.

Angela Merkel was not wrong to compare the snooping and data collection of the NSA to the Stasi. Not only is it unconstitutional (as the courts will no doubt find, in spite of your efforts to stand in the way of justice), it is un-American. We do not keep files on everyone. We do not record the whereabouts of our citizens, 24/7. We do not spy on protestors, just because they disagree. We do not hide sources of evidence used in prosecution. We do not have secret courts that rubber stamp requests for surveillance. We do not allow public officials to lie to Congress. We do not allow the government to meddle with technology standards to make it easier to snoop. We do not prosecute whistle blowers who alert the public to illegal behavior, especially when there are no other ways for the public to discover it. You should know all this, truly.

The longer you stall and fight the inevitable, the worse you look, and the more you alienate yourself from the American people. It is time for you to address this situation directly, without double-speak or deception. You have an opportunity on your return from the holidays to make things more right, to show some character, and uphold the principles you once claimed you stood for (the same ones you swore to uphold as President). Come clean, partner with citizens, businesses and lawmakers, and bring the intelligence programs into compliance with the Constitution, human rights standards, and common decency and common sense.

A while back, I posted a few actions you could take if you similarly feel that these spying programs are unacceptable. They are more than ever, actions worth taking, if you haven’t already.

• Call or write your representatives today. Tell them you want real reform, that you want them to oppose Feinstein’s sham of a bill, and that you aren’t okay with what the NSA (and other agencies) are doing. It takes only a few minutes, and does make a big difference.
• Join the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They are fighting for your civil liberties, and they need your support.
• Talk to people you know, and get them to take some action as well.