Billmon: Leviathan

This NSA dominated program of ingestion, digestion, and distribution of intelligence raises profound questions about the privacy and civil liberties of all Americans. Though there is no evidence that the new harvesting programs have been involved in illegal activity or have been abused to reach into the lives of innocent Americans, an all-seeing domestic surveillance is slowly being established, one that in just a few years time will be able track the activities and "transactions" of any targeted individual in near real time.

William Arkin
NSA's Multi-Billion Dollar Data Mining Effort
May 12, 2006

It appeareth plainly, to my understanding, both from reason and Scripture, that the sovereign power . . . is as great as possibly men can be imagined to make it. And though of so unlimited a power men may fancy many evil consequences, yet the consequences of the want of it, which is perpetual war of every man against his neighbor, are much worse.

Thomas Hobbes
The Leviathan
1651

If someone would just translate The Leviathan into modern colloquial English – or even better, turn it into a comic book – I think Shrub might discover a new favorite philosopher. Maybe not on same plane as Jesus Christ (and certainly not as politically advantageous) but a thinker even more in tune with his own ideas about the power and majesty of the unitary executive.