NSA Says It Doesn't Spy On Americans As Obama Administration Defends Letting NSA Spy On Americans
from the how-about-that dept
Following the news that broke last night that the federal government was getting full records of all Verizon phone calls, the Obama administration is now trying to defend this move, by claiming they can break the law because terrorism is scary:But the Obama administration, while declining to comment on the specific order, said the practice was "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States".Uh, that's really not the point. Under that standard, there is no Constitution. There are lots of things that could be very useful tools in stopping crime and attacks, but we don't allow them because they violate the public's rights. We don't allow the FBI to walk up and down the street, enter every house and search it for weapons, for example. While that might be a "critical tool" in stopping the use of those weapons, it's also incredibly unconstitutional on a whole variety of levels. Saying that it's okay to ignore the 4th Amendment entirely because there are terrorists out there is no excuse at all.
And, of course, as we noted last night, there's nothing new about this. Already it's been confirmed that the order to Verizon was not a special case, but rather a "renewal of an ongoing practice." Senator Feinstein has admitted that this has been going on consistently for the past seven years, and this latest leak is just the "renewal" for another three months. And if anyone thinks that only Verizon got this order and has been doing this for the past seven years, you're not paying attention. As we've noted, we've had multiple whistleblowers who have flat out said that this was happening for years. Mark Klein, who worked at AT&T, revealed in 2006 that he'd helped hook up NSA machines to record all data flowing over the AT&T network. Meanwhile former NSA employee William Binney also blew the whistle on this activity from the NSA side. We've known all of this for years... and no one seemed to care until now.
Even more incredible, is that the NSA has no problem directly lying about all of this. Because last week, before all of this came out, and before the Obama administration 'fessed up to using this "critical tool," General Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA, ridiculously claimed the following:
"The great irony is we're the only ones not spying on the American people," he quipped.Just days after that was said, we have written proof that this claim is 100% false. So, now, what do we do about it?
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Filed Under: 4th amendment, keith alexander, nsa, obama, spying
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The American public still won't care
Look!!
The Bachelor Dancing with the Stars on a Desert Survivor is on the TV!!!
/s
We get the gov't we deserve.
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Re: The American public still won't care
I'm the annoying guy who talks to anyone who will listen... and a lot of people do. Then when it finally makes its way to the mainstream media, it really has a chance to sink in. Maybe if more people who knew what was going on would talk about it, we wouldn't have the government we do.
Thanks alot, Jeff.
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Re: Re: The American public still won't care
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Re: The American public still won't care
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Re: The American public still won't care
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Re: Re: The American public still won't care
This is why the current generation is so easy to ignore.
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Re: The American public still won't care
we don't 'deserve' the steaming pile of shit that we have for gummint, because the system which selects said gummint has been corrupted and perverted over time, such that our influence over it has become negligible...
as i've stated on numerous occasions, it is *NOT* one person one vote, it is one dollar one vote... guess who has all the dollars ? it ain't the 99%...
our power has been frittered away, and we are distracted by hot-button issues, bullshit shadows of terrorism, and impending global disasters, such that the reins of power are in the gnarled, greedy claws of the 1%...
power NEVER devolves voluntarily...
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
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So, now, what do we do about it?
Lots of rope.
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Re: So, now, what do we do about it?
* whoosh *
* thump *
* ouch *
...too much rope.
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Just storing the data
There really needs to be consequences for giving misleading information, even if that info is not technically false.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_Wind_%28code_name%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_6 41A
So both of those things never happened?
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Of course, after setting them up, it sure helps, but want to best this surveillance not only failed to prevent any terrorist attack but will have netted other parties in crimes unrelated to the order?
Yeah, I wouldn't take this sucker's bet either.
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Finally!
I'm going to have to make a note of all the incumbents and tick the other box when it comes time to try to vote these people out of power.
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Re: Finally!
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Re: Finally!
I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in the middle actually.
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HEY, remember Google? It too is part of NSA spying.
Where do you stand on Google's spying, Mike? -- You ask rhetorically, but here's an actual start on what to do: Noscript, removing Google from its whitelist, and hosts files to stop Google's parasites. -- And then, protest every new invasion by Google: Streetview, Glass, and then on to it being TAXED, just take away all the money its hiding offshore. There's nothing inevitable about stopping spying. Just remove your own tacit permission and force our servants to remove the special privileges in tax "law".
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Re: HEY, remember Google? It too is part of NSA spying.
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Re: HEY, remember Google? It too is part of NSA spying.
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Re: HEY, remember Google? It too is part of NSA spying.
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Re: Re: HEY, remember Google? It too is part of NSA spying.
The only issue that I have with OOTB's comment was "Just remove your own tacit permission..." (my emphasis) because the use of tacit here implies that the general population using Google's products are fully aware and fully comprehend the actual extent to the data that Google collects. Many of the people I know couldn't even tell you how a browser works or what the difference is between HTML and HTTP much less understand what data Google collects and how it could affect them. Therefore it isn't tacit for them, which makes them think that Google is spying on them.
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Re: Re: Re: HEY, remember Google? It too is part of NSA spying.
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Re: HEY, remember Google? It too is part of NSA spying.
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Re: Re: HEY, remember Google? It too is part of NSA spying.
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If you're an American voter ...
You can email your senators and congressman from their officially provided web sites. You can get there via:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
and
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
It only takes a couple of minutes to let your voice be heard.
Speak up.
Better yet, call your elected representatives' offices on your cell phone, and inform the person who answers that the call is being logged by the NSA.
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They are all too scared of being outed for some shit they did...
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Hey, NSA is just recording a bunch of digits, right? It's not your property, right? You can't prove they are doing anything improper with all of those digital files, can you? After, in a worst case scenario, those files are only being "shared", right?
Suck it, losers.
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Re:
Technically it may be Verizon's property (although I would argue that I still have some privacy interest in it.) That wouldn't change the fact that the government is getting court orders even though they have no individualized suspicion.
This court order is ILLEGAL. I don't care what bills Congress has passed or what the FISA court has approved or even what the Supreme Court might have to say. It IS unconstitutional.
"You can't prove they are doing anything improper with all of those digital files, can you?"
Getting them in the first place was improper. But beyond that, we don't NEED to prove what they're doing with the information. We can repeal FISA because we want to.
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Tell us all again the story of how ones and zeroes are "stolen." That's a classic.
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How many times do you need to hear this? You can't be that stupid, can you?
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Not to those unable to come to terms with their own dishonest, criminal behavior. Way to rationalize John. I hope you feel better now.
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(Hint: saying it's not theft is not saying that it's OK)
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Sorry numb nuts. You don't get to decide what is or isn't illegal. The courts do. Thanks for playing, though.
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http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
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Skills To Get The Job Differ From Skills To Successfully Perform
Another is that it takes a certain kind of person to win an election, and a different kind of person to effectively run that position.
Of course there are exceptions to these such as, one could argue, Rand Paul and Ron Wyden. But the overall contrasts have guaranteed the ineffective type to remain as the decision makers.
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Re: Skills To Get The Job Differ From Skills To Successfully Perform
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Re: Skills To Get The Job Differ From Skills To Successfully Perform
Like in this case I would be so "I don't care shit about your technicalities when you DON'T SPY ON ALL PEOPLE".
Still the FBI/CIA could just deal with me like they did with JFK.
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Only
We are now governed by a rogue government in its entirety. Welcome to tomorrow.
Breaking: Obama, the leader of the free world, defends the indefensible. Fantastic.
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Re: Only
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However one of the purposes of the burglery was to install listening and wiretapping devices that would have been used to illegally spy on the Democratic Party but they failed and were caught which is what ultimately kicked off the whole scandal.
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Maybe, like Google- he doesn't consider aggregating data to be spying?
Just days after that was said, we have written proof that this claim is 100% false. So, now, what do we do about it?
Why don't you black out Techdirt for a month or two? That should get their attention.
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Why don't you get a real job and, I don't know, fill in some pot holes?
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Re: (Anonymous Coward, Jun 6th, 2013 @ 10:34am)
Pay up, or shut up!
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Re: Re: (Anonymous Coward, Jun 6th, 2013 @ 10:34am)
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...but we were killing our democracy well before 9/11.
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What the NSA really stands for
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The Great Irony
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Custom dictionaries
They've borrowed the idea of pluggable dictionaries from the computer world.
In the custom dictionary used by this administration, 'spying' translates to 'spying, unless we're doing it in which case we mean not spying'.
With custom dictionaries, you can make your constitution and laws mean whatever you want them to. Just look at their definitions of
Whistleblower: 'Traitor'
Banker: 'Unimpeachably upstanding citizen'
Torture: 'not the stuff we do'
Oh, and by the way, you are not allowed access to their dictionary.
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Re: Custom dictionaries
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Re: Custom dictionaries
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/sigh
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Do about it?
The Government only then needs to do two things. Keep a close eye on known terrorist groups then have a hotline where people can report anything suspicious that can be investigated.
Very targeted you will find.
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Now re-read this: "To my knowledge there has not been any citizen who has registered a complaint" Of course there hasn't been a complaint registered, it is a secret program with a secret interpretation of the law.
Our elected officials are idiots.
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Not just We The People
http://m.washingtonexaminer.com/kirk-to-eric-holder-is-doj-spying-on-congress/article/253128 6/?page=1&referrer=http://t.co/TbRIhUztmc
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nice government you have there
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What to do, or not
Get rid of the FISA court.
Get rid of the NSA and all their enablers on the Senate Intelligence committee. That goes for the FBI and the CIA.
Matter of fact, get rid of every single person who voted for the Patriot Act without reading it first. That means all of them are gone tomorrow.
Open up all the past records of the phone companies and let them be sued the living shit by each and every 'victim' of this massive invasion of privacy by a government.
Oh, yeah-almost forgot these:
Sue the government for everything. Nobody spared. Even the President and the SC.
Impeach any and all officials who conspired to allow this to happen-past and present. Prosecute those who broke the law. Imprison those who are convicted.
Oh, and reinstate the Constitution while we're at it. Seems to be lying around here somewhere, isn't it?
But never mind, it'll all blow away in 48 hours by a captive and toothless media instructed by their corporate masters to 'shut this story down, now."
Then we're back on the right track.
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Stop NSA Spying on Americans...
Clearly this is not a new Obama administration practice. Both Democrats and Republicans have enabled it. The ruling two-party cartel is morally bankrupt.
You can do something about it by withdrawing your support. Don't register as a Republican or Democrat. Stop voting for Republicans and Democrats. Join the leading alternative party that stands for civil liberties, economic freedom, peace, and upholding the Constitution -- www.LP.org
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