The news of the Verizon Wiretaps and PRIS presents us with highly complex issues, not given to knee-jerk reactions without careful consideration. In my opinion, these programs, as currently constituted, are bad for America, but not to the extent that the anti-Obama folks on both sides of the aisle would have us believe.
President Obama on Friday defended a pair of recently disclosed surveillance programs as striking the “right balance” between national security and civil liberties following a speech Friday in California.
“You can’t have 100 percent security and also have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience. We’re going to have to make some choices as a government,” Obama said.
“You can complain about big brother and how this is a potential program run amok, but when you actually look at the details I think we’ve struck the right balance.”
The administration acknowledged Thursday that the National Security Agency had monitored domestic telephone data and international internet traffic from tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
Obama stressed that every member of Congress had been briefed on the phone monitoring program and that the relevant Intelligence committees were aware of PRISM — the system by which the NSA accessed internet traffic. He also noted that federal judges had to sign off on data gathering requests… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <The Hill>
Obama said there are safeguards in place, and while that may well be what her intends, that intent has not carried forward into practice.
Chris Hayes revealed the character of the judge who signed the order.
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This Republican judge was appointed to the FISA Court long before Obama was elected. FISA is the safeguard the law intended, so technically that safeguard is in place. However, having FISA in place has no effect whatsoever, when such men abuse their power to circumvent the law. Chris also interviewed Jeff Merkley (D-OR), but that part of the video is missing. Of course, Jeff is on our side, fighting for oversight and accountability.
Rachel Maddow discussed congressional complicity.
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Note that Ron Wyden (D-OR) is a leader in opposition. Once again, Oregon is leading the way.
Are there sufficient safeguards in place? The real problem here is that we have no way to know, because even the limits on these programs are classified. Only the Gang of Eight (the top Democrat and Republican in the House and Senate and on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees) are so informed, and they may tell nobody else, rendering them incapable of doing anything about it, without committing an act of criminal sedition.
Having classified limits does not work. Obama may well have other limits that he has imposed about how the data so gathered is used. I hope he does and wish I knew. But I know for a certainty that during the Bush/GOP regime, national security devolved into Murder, Inc. If, God forbid, another Republican ever infests the White House, proper checks and balances had better be in place.
13 Responses to “A Snoop Too Far”
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Maybe if everyone did their proper jobs before and after 9/11/2001 we not not have "too many" safeguards in place. Paranoia fueled the Patriot Act and we are paying for it now.
People have to choose between privacy and spying it seems.. Personally, I opt for the Government knowing what is going on. I have nothing to hide from them.
Patty, I'd agrfee except for one thing. The unPATRIOT Act was ready to go within days. Legislation that complex could not have been written in less than six months. Tnerefore, it was prepared by the Bush Regime well in advance hoping for what PNAC called a Pearl Harbor event to be used by the Republicans to curtail cibil liberty and establish a permanent Republican Regime. It almosat worked.
My take on Congress' defense of surveilling US citizens after they passed the Patriot Act for Bush:
"Well, sure I gave the kid that toy tractor … but how in the world was I to know he’d use it to dig up the petunias?"
Very well put Nameless.
All the collected information, phone calls, internet browsing, emails, tweets, instant messages, etc, is virtually useless by itself. There is too much data for people to effectively read and analyze. And up until recently, there was no way, there were not enough file cabinets in the world to store all this information. Then along came the computer.
The key to all this data collection is digital transmission, digital storage and digital analysis. People can't do it adequately, just like people could not collect all,of this data adequately. Now it is transmitted, collected and stored electronically in digital form. It is a system of numbers, not words and pictures. The government is very actively involved in developing very advanced computer programs to analyze the collected data. It is not a simple task, but more akin to searching for a needle in the haystack, and they are getting very good at it.
The next step, and it is already happening, is private companies developing the technology to analyze this data. One initial application is already happening with our grocery shopping habits. Stores have collected vast amounts of information with their "club cards", and you are beginning to see advertising targetted directly at you based on what your buying habits. Amazon is another example. Their "suggestions" for you is not only based on what you have purchased from them, but also based on what thousands of other people have purchased from them. You are just part of the patterns that come out of their purchasing data.
Once more robust data analysis algorithms move from the government to private companies the real invasion of our privacy will occur. Not only our buying habits will be for sale, so will all our other habits.
Then we will have more to fear, much much more to fear, from multinational corporations than our own government.
Jerry, you're right, but consider this. Should a Republican ever infest the White House again, the data will not be used for national defense, but to establish a permanent, totalitarian, one-party regime and to transfer wealth from the 99% to the 1%. Thus, putting Republicans in power is an instant guarantee of the scenario you described.
That is right. And look at who is pulling the republican strings.
The crotch brothers, et al.
To the Snoop Scare, two middle fingers from me… Verizon can kiss my a$$… 🙂
They'd rather kiss your wallet.
Holy Mother of God! Not even dogs would touch this for breakfast!
But a rather bedraggled cat pulled it into the kitty box and started digging. 😈