What do totalitarian governments do? They spy on their citizens -- all of them

The revelations of government spying on innocent Americans are piling up.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the National Security Agency gathers data on the phone calls of 107.3 million wireless customers of AT&T, 98.9 million wireless customers of Verizon, 31.2 million landline customers of AT&T, 22.2 million landline customers of Verizon, and 55 million customers of Sprint.
The Journal says,

"The practice, which evolved out of warrantless wiretapping programs begun after 2001, is now approved by all three branches of the U.S. government."

How can a program that is secret and unknown to most of the citizenry be considered "approved?" If the details are so secret that only a handful of Members of Congress know about them -- and they are constrained from talking about them -- how can these programs be considered "approved?"

Marylanders -- write to your Member of Congress

Friends, Here's the letter I just sent to my Member of Congress (April 12, 2013)

You can send a form letter drafted by the Marijuana Policy Project from here.

Dear Rep. Van Hollen:

Please cosponsor H.R. 1523, the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act, introduced by three Republicans (Reps. Rohrabacher, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), and Don Young (R-AK)) and three Democrats (Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Jared Polis (D-CO)).

The bill would create an exemption in the Controlled Substances Act for anyone acting in compliance with state marijuana laws. If an individual is following state law, he or she would not be prosecuted and imprisoned by the federal government.

A few days ago, the Maryland General Assembly overwhelmingly passed H.B. 1101, which Gov. O'Malley is expected to sign, that would authorize Maryland medical centers like Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Schools of Medicine to distribute marijuana to patients.

A key concern those large institutions will have to address before participating is the impact of federal law on them. This bill would enable the Maryland law to be carried out by these institutions without fear of federal interference.

Thus it is critical to the interests of the people of Maryland that this bill be enacted. Your support is critical to getting this bill passed.

Since your first year in Congress, you have repeatedly voted for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher-Farr amendments to the Department of Justice Appropriations bills that would bar DEA from spending to prosecute marijuana cases that are medical, in states with medical marijuana laws. This bill would accomplish that purpose more directly and comprehensively.

Please side with the people and the State of Maryland by co-sponsoring the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act. To do so, please contact Jeff Vanderslice in Rep. Rohrabacher's office.