As expected, in facing yet another attack on civil liberties by the Obama Administration, Democratic members are choosing personality over principle. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., CA) has come out to assure the public that it is a good thing that the Administration is spying on them and encourage them to accept such surveillance as the new normal. In the meantime, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R, Ga), insists that the surveillance must be fine because “to my knowledge we have not had any citizen who has registered a complaint relative to the gathering of this information.” Of course, it has been secret and just last February the Administration succeeded in blocking an effort of dozens of citizens and groups challenging such surveillance programs before the Supreme Court.
Feinstein is notorious among civil libertarians as someone who knew of many of the abuses during the Bush Administration, including possible knowledge of the torture program and warrantless surveillance programs. However, the Administration is clearly putting the push on to get members in front of cameras to claim that that surveillance stopped a plot. It is an effort to get citizens to give up this core liberty. Of course, if you strip every civil liberty, you can claim additional plots. These members are responsible, again, for a failure to use oversight authority to protect civil liberties. They have clearly been given the message to try to change the story in the critical first 24-hours in classic Bush (now Obama) terms: yes we put everyone under surveillance but it paid off. It is working. Where the headlines began the day as “huge surveillance program,” media is now reporting the story as “surveillance program foiled terror plot.” Once again the media is being played like a fiddle by our homegrown Neros.
Feinstein has continued her dubious record of leading the charge against liberty — a curious role for the Democratic senator from a state like California.
My favorite however is Chambliss who seems clueless that the Obama Administration has classified information needed to challenge these laws and no citizens had information to complain about . . . because Chambliss and his colleagues kept it from their constituents.
Then there is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) fresh from his questioning whether bloggers have first amendment rights. Graham stated “I’m a Verizon customer. I don’t mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States.” Most citizens would shudder at the thought of using either Feinstein or Graham as the barometer for civil liberties.
However, the spin is on. This is the ultimate test for Obama in seeing whether he can get citizens to give up not only the protection for the free press but their own privacy rights. This program is a critical step in the establishment of massive databanks on citizens. However, our members of Congress are lining up to embrace such a potential authoritarian tool.
Source: ‘Huff Post
“The great irony is we’re the only ones not spying on the American people,” the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying. -Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the NSA, two weeks ago
‘No Such Agency’ spies on the communications of the world
By Anne Gearan, Updated: Thursday, June 6, 5:35 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/no-such-agency-spies-on-the-communications-of-the-world/2013/06/06/5bcd46a6-ceb9-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html
Gen. Keith B. Alexander took over as head of the NSA in 2005. More recently, he also became head of U.S. Cyber Command, which develops new types of warfare.
At the end of Alexander’s first year at the NSA, the New York Times disclosed that the George W. Bush administration had authorized the agency to run a vast, warrantless domestic spying program. The extensive surveillance has continued under the Obama administration, although officials contend it operates within the parameters of the Patriot Act.
Two weeks ago at a conference in Washington, Alexander argued that the NSA has its hands full keeping tabs on potential terrorists and does not have the bandwidth to read the 420 billion e-mails generated by Americans daily. Some foreign governments are trying to do just that, he said.
“The great irony is we’re the only ones not spying on the American people,” the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
From the AP, Harry Reid
And Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada played down the significance of the revelation.
“Everyone should just calm down and understand that this isn’t anything that’s brand new,” he said. “This is a program that’s been in effect for seven years, as I recall. It’s a program that has worked to prevent not all terrorism but certainly the vast, vast majority. Now is the program perfect? Of course not.”
BD,
I found your comments in the spam filter. As soon as I check and make sure no forbidden words, will rescue them for you. Just glancing at them, I don’t see what might have triggered the spam filter.
Who knew that when the Soviet Union tumbled down, we would rebuild it here.
Google the Illinois First Amendment Center and read the Five Principles of the First Amendment. I cant get the thing past word presto here.
This synopsis is from the Illinois First Amendment Center:
The 5 First Amendment Freedoms
Speech
The First Amendment says that people have the right to speak freely without government interference.
Press
The First Amendment gives the press the right to publish news, information and opinions without government interference. This also means people have the right to publish their own newspapers, newsletters, magazines, etc.
Religion
The First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a religion and protects each person’s right to practice (or not practice) any faith without government interference.
Petition
The First Amendment says that people have the right to appeal to government in favor of or against policies that affect them or that they feel strongly about. This freedom includes the right to gather signatures in support of a cause and to lobby legislative bodies for or against legislation.
Assembly
The First Amendment says that people have the right to gather in public to march, protest, demonstrate, carry signs and otherwise express their views in a nonviolent way. It also means people can join and associate with groups and organizations without interference.
Either JT or word press is messing with my effort to post a comment on the First Amendment.
This synopsis is from the Illinois First Amendment Center:
The 5 First Amendment Freedoms
Speech
The First Amendment says that people have the right to speak freely without government interference.
Press
The First Amendment gives the press the right to publish news, information and opinions without government interference. This also means people have the right to publish their own newspapers, newsletters, magazines, etc.
Religion
The First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a religion and protects each person’s right to practice (or not practice) any faith without government interference.
Petition
The First Amendment says that people have the right to appeal to government in favor of or against policies that affect them or that they feel strongly about. This freedom includes the right to gather signatures in support of a cause and to lobby legislative bodies for or against legislation.
Assembly
The First Amendment says that people have the right to gather in public to march, protest, demonstrate, carry signs and otherwise express their views in a nonviolent way. It also means people can join and associate with groups and organizations without interference.
I cannot get this comment past WordPress on the other topic on the First Amendment.
This synopsis is from the Illinois First Amendment Center:
The 5 First Amendment Freedoms
Speech
The First Amendment says that people have the right to speak freely without government interference.
Press
The First Amendment gives the press the right to publish news, information and opinions without government interference. This also means people have the right to publish their own newspapers, newsletters, magazines, etc.
Religion
The First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a religion and protects each person’s right to practice (or not practice) any faith without government interference.
Petition
The First Amendment says that people have the right to appeal to government in favor of or against policies that affect them or that they feel strongly about. This freedom includes the right to gather signatures in support of a cause and to lobby legislative bodies for or against legislation.
Assembly
The First Amendment says that people have the right to gather in public to march, protest, demonstrate, carry signs and otherwise express their views in a nonviolent way. It also means people can join and associate with groups and organizations without interference.
©Illinois First Amendment Center – All rights reserved.
And don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the NRA.
Nate Silver @fivethirtyeight 3m
Come to think of it, domestic spying is about the only thing that Obama and (most) Republicans in Congress agree upon.
In 2012, Feinstein claimed the record for the most popular votes in any U.S. Senate election in history, having received 7.75 million votes. wiki She isn’t going anywhere. She is in until 2018.
When the voting public is offered a choice between Fascist and Corporatist, they really have no choice. I refuse to vote for either corporate sponsored party since they are near identical on so many issues of civil liberties, or lack thereof. You can either vote for the Halliburton sponsored or the Chase sponsored candidate, both of whom are not sponsoring the citizen. We all have to wake up or keep sleepwalking to a real Oceania.
G. Mason,
Just for you . . . “We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us” – Walt Kelly
And don’t don’t vote for anyone that is not pro gay marriage or wrong on all the other social issues.
The Enemy of the State is our own government.
It is time for non violent Revolution.
No sooner does some “enemy” “attack us for our freedoms” than our own government proceeds to attack our freedoms, too. That sounds to me like our government has more in common with our enemies than it does with us.
ap,
re: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data
Looks like the floodgates are open
Well said, Michael. I should reread 1984. So prescient!
I knew I should have taken the blue pill.
But if I had, I wouldn’t be able to say it yet again: there is no substantive difference between either major political party when it comes to being fascist tools.
Vote out anyone who isn’t for repealing the Patriot Act, dismantling DHS and putting the NSA and CIA on a leash.