President Barack Obama was widely ridiculed last week for his latest effort to quiet public unrest over his massive warrantless surveillance programs. As we discussed, Obama made statements on the program and Snowden that were disengenuous at best and viewed by civil libertarians as facially dishonest. His main “reform” was the rather laughable suggestion that his Administration, once again, would review itself and he would create yet another hand-picked committee to monitor his unchecked authority. While some of us said that Obama’s comments showed almost open contempt for the intelligence of the public and the independence of the press, nothing prepared us this week for his announcement on who would head the review: National Intelligence Chief John Clapper. That’s right. Clapper, the man who admitted to lying before Congress on these programs and has been protected by Congress and Attorney General Eric Holder from a perjury charge. The White House announced Clapper’s selection on Monday and Clapper issued a statement announcing his intention to find a way to preserve national security while “maintaing the public trust.” On Tuesday, the outcry over Clapper’s selection led the White House to try to backpedal and explain this insulting appointment. The White House now says that Clapper will not “lead” the panel and that it will remain “independent” even with his looming presence.
It was the latest outrage from America’s new Animal Farm system. His selection shows the low level of respect for voters in this city and the virtual absence of any fear of confrontation by either Congress or the press in this Administration. It is, to put it simply, a disgrace. Rather than being charged with a virtual admission of perjury, Clapper will review the very programs that he lied about. He is also the person who has been overseeing and using these programs.
What is most unnerving is that Obama is not even trying to make a serious effort at evasion. He simply wants to create some review that can be cited by congressional allies as an excuse for not taking any action in the face of the erosion of privacy.
Clapper said that he will head the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies which will “assess whether, in light of advancements in communications technologies, the United States employs its technical collection capabilities in a manner that optimally protects our national security and advances our foreign policy while appropriately accounting for other policy considerations, such as the risk of unauthorized disclosure and our need to maintain the public trust.” The wording is telling. Notice how national security is the primary of focus and privacy is not even directly mentioned. Rather, it is part of a secondary category of risks and concerns over the public trust. Indeed, it seems that “maintaing the public trust” is the more pressing concern as it was with Obama’s comments. Obama insisted that if he had simply created this meaningless committee before the recent scandals, the public would not have been upset by the Snowden affair. The panel will restore public trust by being a panel committed to restoring the public trust.
Once again, the White House seemed entirely surprised that anyone in the media or public would object to a plan of the President. The White House on Tuesday back pedaled and insisted that Clapper would not run the entire show and would have limited powers as part of this overall review. Instead, the Administration insisted that “the panel members are being selected by the White House, in consultation with the intelligence community.” Now that’s a closed circle. The panel will be selected by the White House accused abusive surveillance in consultation with the community accused of carrying out the abusive surveillance. I can see why the White House seems so surprised by the response. Why on Earth wouldn’t the public trust be maintained?
Any vote inside the box, the chosen Dem or Rep is certainly a wasted vote for president. Hard to say Romney would be worse but clearly he would have been a bad choice too.
benjaminfulford.net Use this to get the data on cabalist/Illuminati resignations, firings & jailings recently.
jill,
“BTW__I was saddened to see that Obama’s people use the propagandistic device of saying how much worse things would be under Romney as a way to hide what is actually happening now.”
I’m not one of “Obama’s people.” Romney was governor of my state. i was speaking from experience. It was not a “propagandistic device.” I DO think Romeny would have been even worse than President Obama.
There are ways to have secure email but basically you are constrained by the level of security your recipients use.
Darren,
I think it will be tough for any startup gmail-type companies to deny governmental access because of all the other companies it will interface with. I am no internet expert, but I think they can find a way in. We have to follow the money and root out the corruption that follows it. The corporate contractors that have access to our most sensitive secrets need to be the first on the list to be shown the door.
Love your poetry Misfortune Teller! As for not taking Obamarama seriously, it will do us no good. No one wanted to take W seriously but he brought us 9/11 & the Patriot Act, even if it was more Daddy’s doing. (Remember Daddy’s New World Order speech 9/11/90!) Last week I was supposed to turn in my British passport & get my US citizenship in a month or two. Couldn’t do it!!!! Not with all that’s going down in this country now. Internet, Manning, Snowden… All so fast & all so down. Yes, as goes the USA so goes my other two countries UK & Canada. But we’re spinning down faster here now. Mean it or not I won’t take the oath at this pivotal time in history. Yes, I’m optermistic about throwing off the Illuminati cloak sooner or later if you’ll all get off your butts! But thats probably the point. The antisocials are pouring on the coals! They see that they can lose!
I don’t know how this is going to play out. I worry there are so many facebook and twitter types out there that seem to have no issue with putting their entire lives out into the open on the internet and who might be indifferent to gov’t spying. Then there are those my age and older who remember the cold war and the lessons / propaganda taught of how the Russians and East Germans spied on everyone on Earth and we don’t trust out own government going to this model.
I would say there might be a market for somone to start a gmail or hotmail type account in some foreign country that will refuse any government spy demands and people could purchase e-Mail accounts on those. And, it doesn’t just have to be individual accounts, companies or organizations or co-ops can register a domain and colocate their server there and not have the spying. The problem I see with this is it would then be a foreign service and I suspect, but I am not certain, the gov’t will then use even more broad rules to spy on these accounts because the traffic crosses the US Border.
Moreover, if everyone started heading to a few of these offshore ISPs it would certainly lower the number of targets the US gov’t has to watch the network traffic and fewer security measure schemes the NSA will have to try and crack. So it could turn into a worse situation. Again, I don’t know how this is going to play out. But, I dont’ see the gov’t changing with those who currently are in power.
Darren, I was talking with a friend yesterday, on the phone. The NSA spying came up and she said “I only make a long distance call to one country and I don’t say anything suspicious.” She was referring to her statement that was a variation on “I don’t do anything wrong and we do need some of this to keep us safe.” I told her she could use a word, just one word, that might be on a list of watch for these words, and then she would be in trouble,” Oh didn’t think of that.
What lotta said. Unamerican to say the least.
AY, The point I try to make, is quite simple. If you are always voting for the “lesser of two evils” you are still voting for evil. And, you are enabling both parties whose campaign slogans always come down to, “We may suck, but we don’t suck as bad as those other guys. Voting for third parties, and/or being given the option of “None of the above,” will provide a foundation for viable 3rd, 4th, parties to evolve.
Our culture is myopic in so many ways. “Lose weight in 2 weeks” instead of changing your lifestyle and losing weight over a year or more. “This company had a great 3rd quarter” instead of seeing growth potential of more obscure companies starting out. “I didn’t want to waste my vote” instead of considering the possibility of giving our kids/grandkids the chance to have more than 2 choices when they vote. This isn’t going to happen “in two weeks” or “in one quarter,” it will happen over many years, many elections. But, maybe 20 years from now, as momentum grows, we will have more choices on election days. I may not be here then but my kids and grandkids will be. Isn’t that how generations are supposed to think, making it better for future generations. Our parents generation sure as hell did!
Hmmmmm . . . (thoughtfully scratches chin)
“This s*it is so unamerican.” -lottakatz
A whole lot o’ that goin’ around. A National Security Letter, to be sure.
From the interview with Levison:
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Jesse Binnall, by the way. And, Jesse, how difficult is this for Ladar Levison, what he can say, what he can’t say? How high are the stakes here?
JESSE BINNALL: The stakes are very high. It’s a very unfortunate situation that, as Americans, we really are not supposed to have to worry about. But Ladar is in a situation where he has to watch every word he says when he’s talking to the press, for fear of being imprisoned. And we can’t even talk about what the legal requirements are that make it so he has to watch his words. But the simple fact is, I’m really here with him only because there are some very fine lines that he can’t cross, for fear of being dragged away in handcuffs. And that’s pretty much the exact fears that led the founders to give us the First Amendment in the first place. So it’s high stakes.
LADAR LEVISON: Yeah.
AARON MATÉ: And, Ladar, in your letter, you write that “A favorable decision would allow me to resurrect Lavabit as an American company.” So, are you suggesting perhaps that you would consider moving it abroad?
LADAR LEVISON: I don’t think I can continue to run Lavabit abroad as an American citizen. I would have to move abroad, effectively, to administer the service. As an American citizen, I’m still subject to the laws and jurisdiction of the United States, particularly as long as I continue to live here. You know, that’s why I have a lot of respect for Snowden, because he gave up his entire life, the life that he’s known his entire life, so that he could speak out. I haven’t gotten to that point. I still hope that it’s possible to run a private service, private cloud data service, here in the United States without necessarily being forced to conduct surveillance on your users by the American government.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you say, Ladar, if you’ve received a national security letter?
LADAR LEVISON: No.
JESSE BINNALL: Unfortunately, he can’t.
ARE,
On this matter, we are in total agreement.
The only thing Clapper should be involved with is his lawyer trying to fight perjury charges against him. This is outrageous. Of course, since the GOP controls the House, they do have the option to press charges against him for that perjury. It is time for them to step up and do their job.
Tanscript and video
“EXCLUSIVE: Owner of Snowden’s Email Service on Why He Closed Lavabit Rather Than Comply With Gov’t”
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/13/exclusive_owner_of_snowdens_email_service
He can talk about the issue but not what happened to him because it’s not legal to talk about that. He undoubtedly received a National Security Letter for the information. A secret court order that is secret. This s*it is so unamerican.
Anonymously Yours 1, August 14, 2013 at 11:47 am
Dredd,
Nadar would have been a start in a fresh direction….. To stay with the status quo or the lesser of two evils arguments will most certainly lead us to a Stalinist like union…. Fools can’t see the emperor had no new clothes….
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Tru dat … it is just that they can’t be voted in, they can only be voted for.
Which may reflect reality a bit better.
Shape-shifters all … except those we can’t vote in.
Elections are as phoney as everything else about our system.
So long as the use isn’t criminal or tortious, I remain neutral on how people use their produce.
Well Gene….. Does that mean a banana can change its spots…..or should we still allow folks to play connect the dots with bananas at Walmart…..
R,
Does attacking with sockpuppets make one a victim?
That whole arrow of time thing can be a real pain.
And always remember, WW, the immortal words of Groucho Marx when he said, “Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.”
Hey White Washing, Get your facts straight. Obama was not in the picture in 2000, the election year that Nick and I were discussing. My husband was an early Obama supporter in 2008 but a Nader voter in 2000.
Anon Posted,
Thanks for that link. I wish Wyden would read out the programs into the Congressional Record. He can do this legally and he should do it. To me, this is the time to put up or shut up. We have a small window for members of Congress to pull it together. Wyden has hinted around enough. If he is being blackmailed, he should still speak out.
In the meantime, every person of conscience can speak out as well.
BTW__I was saddened to see that Obama’s people use the propagandistic device of saying how much worse things would be under Romney as a way to hide what is actually happening now. (They used that technique for years only then of course, it was McCain.) I am hoping that that type of propaganda no longer works on people. If Romney were doing this kind of lying and lackeying about, the same paid people currently justifying Obama’s actions would justify Romney’s. It’s just a paycheck to them and they have no interest in our society and its well being.