PATRIOT Is Still NOT

Yesterday, in A Snoop Too Far, I pointed out that the surveillance leaks revealing excessive surveillance of innocent Americans showed nothing new other than the ongoing progression of the abuse set up long before Obama was elected, and I called for the installation of proper checks and balances.  Today, I have more information, including statements from the three Senators leading the opposition.

…Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, a Democratic member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who has become increasingly outspoken on civil liberties issues, was quick to respond to the Greenwald story, saying: "The American people have a right to know whether their government thinks that the sweeping, dragnet surveillance that has been alleged in this story is allowed under the law and whether it is actually being conducted."

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who has led the fight to declassify secret rulings by so-called FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) courts, was even more pointed in his response to the revelations.

“This type of secret bulk data collection is an outrageous breach of Americans’ privacy. I have had significant concerns about the intelligence community over-collecting information about Americans’ telephone calls, emails, and other records and that is why I voted against the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act provisions in 2011 and the reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act just six months ago,” says Merkley. “This bulk data collection is being done under interpretations of the law that have been kept secret from the public. Significant FISA court opinions that determine the scope of our laws should be declassified. Can the FBI or the NSA really claim that they need data scooped up on tens of millions of Americans?”

Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who voted against the Patriot Act as a member of the House, made no bones about his objections to Obama-era extensions of a domestic surveillance program that has swept up millions of telephone records on calls by Americans who were not suspected of any wrongdoing.

“The United States should not be accumulating phone records on tens of millions of innocent Americans. That is not what democracy is about. That is not what freedom is about. Congress must address this issue and protect the constitutional rights of the American people,” said Sanders. “While we must aggressively pursue international terrorists and all of those who would do us harm, we must do it in a way that protects the Constitution and the civil liberties which make us proud to be Americans.”

The senator cut the current administration no slack. But he put the broad debate over the NSA phone sweeps—which Senate Intelligence Committee leaders say have been going on since 2007—in perspective.

“As one of the few members of Congress who consistently voted against the Patriot Act, I expressed concern at the time of passage that it gave the government far too much power to spy on innocent United State citizens and provided for very little oversight or disclosure,” said Sanders. “Unfortunately, what I said turned out to be exactly true.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Nation>

I urge you to click through to this excellent article.  I just took the part about these three Senators, and it offers a wealth of additional information.

As expected, Oregon is still leading the way in protecting America’s rights.  Bernie Sanders also remains a national treasure.

Joy-Ann Reid and her panel discussed the issue and provided a valuable time-line.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Clearly none of this originates with Obama, who has continued the programs set up mostly by and for his Republican predecessors. Were there to be a major terrorist incident and Obama not made use of the tools at his disposal, he and the Democratic Party would be blamed. However, I believe that most in Congress believed that that checks and balances would be far more effective in protecting American’s privacy than they have in fact been. Ron, Jeff, and Bernie, heroes all, are right. We need to change the law in such away that protects the privacy of Americans, about whom no specific evidence suggests that they are involved with terrorism.  I certainly hope we do not have to wait until 2016 to have the debate Obama says he welcomes.