PATRIOT Act Author Says James Clapper Should Be Fired And Prosecuted; Plans Law To Stop NSA Overreach
from the better-late-than-never dept
We've written a few times about how the author of the PATRIOT Act, Jim Sensenbrenner, has insisted that the bill was written specifically to prevent the kind of datamining we now know the NSA pretends the law authorized. However, as some have pointed out, for a decade, plenty of people have directly raised these kinds of concerns (without knowing the specifics of what the NSA was doing) to Sensenbrenner about how "his" PATRIOT Act could be abused -- and he brushed them off or ignored it every single time.However, now that he seems to realize what's happening (though, without apologizing for his earlier attacks on those who raised questions about the PATRIOT Act), he's finally getting ready to introduce new legislation, dubbed the USA Freedom Act, to try to clearly restrain the activities of the NSA. According to the Guardian, who has seen a draft of the bill, the bill will do a few things:
It seeks to limit the collection of phone records to known terrorist suspects; to end "secret laws" by making courts disclose surveillance policies; to create a special court advocate to represent privacy interests; and to allow companies to disclose how many requests for users' information they receive from the USA. The bill also tightens up language governing overseas surveillance to remove a loophole which it has been abused to target internet and email activities of Americans.All of these are good things -- and all are items that we've been focusing on for quite some time. Plus, there's this:
Sensenbrenner also called for the prosecution of Obama's director of national intelligence, James Clapper, who admitted misleading the Senate intelligence committee about the extent of bulk collection of telephone records.While it may have taken a bit too long in our opinion, it's good to see Rep. Sensenbrenner taking a strong stand against the Intelligence Communities abuses. Hopefully, the next time civil liberties advocates raise issues like this, he won't be so dismissive.
"Oversight only works when the agency that oversight is directed at tells the truth, and having Mr Clapper say he gave the least untruthful answer should, in my opinion, have resulted in a firing and a prosecution," said the congressman.
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Filed Under: james clapper, jim sensenbrenner, nsa, nsa surveillance, patriot act, usa freedom act
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Sometimes...
Unless you're delusional, then it doesn't matter.
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Re: Sometimes...
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Restrain what, again? You mean the NSA?
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Re:
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Heh.
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Fifth Columnists
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of a passionate intensity."
- W.B. Yeats
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Re: Sometimes...
Just saying...
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Classy
I like the idea.
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Internet
EU? China? (don't laught!) Russia? (ok, you can laugh now) Aliens?
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Re: Classy
Why must the electronic devices suffer for his incompetence!?
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Re: Re: Sometimes...
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Re: Classy
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Re: Re: Classy
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― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
We've created our own monster, and it his high time we gather up our torches and pitchforks...er letters and calls and storm the mad Baron's castle.
Doctor Waldman: You have created a monster, and it will destroy you!
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Re: Fifth Columnists
> are full of a passionate intensity."
> - W.B. Yeats
"And what rough beast is this, its hour come round at last, that slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"
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Re:
> don't we repeal the patriot act and stop
> with all these bullshit USA Nation Freedom
> 'Merical Named bills?
If I could, I'd get an amemdnment passed to the Constitution forbidding Congress from naming bills. It would require that they referenced by number only: H.B. 1472, S.B. 1188, etc.
It would end this ridiculous charade of them giving bills names that no politician wants to vote against, even if they think the underlying law will be bad for the country. Who wants to be the guy who voted against "patriotism" or "safe children", even if the damn thing has nothing to do with the name it carries?
It's a thinly-disguised tool of legislative blackmail and it needs to stop.
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Patriot Act Terminated
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Apologies?
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Re: Fifth Columnists
If we win this fight, they may also win, but maybe we shouldn't have antagonized the cornered squirrels to begin with.
It should be noted that terrorism can only function as a defensive tool, similar in nature to Mutually Assured Destruction. When used defensively, terrorism can (when it succeeds) divide an enemy by raising the costs for those who stand to gain the least. When used offensively, it only unifies the enemy by emphasizing the horror of the threat.
Middle East win condition: US stops interference in middle east.
US citizen win condition: US surveillance operations terminated. Terror strategy terminated.
US government win condition: Control of oil, control of population.
Middle East strategy: The enemy of my enemy is a powerful tool that doesn't exist, lets make some.
US government counter-strategy: Surveillance, which plays right into the strategy of terrorism.
We can choose to back the government in a fight that will cost us far more than we would gain, but also renders the terror tactic unlikely to be attempted again, or we can choose to pull the government out of that fight. Whichever choice we make, the surveillance program needs to go.
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This is how government WORKS!!!
Due to the constant attacks against the founding principles of the USA its citizens are ignorant at large and lack the necessary faculty to see through this political BS!
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Re
Gen Laexander, Gen M Hayden, James Clapper, Diane Feinstein, Mike Rogers and that weasel Nancy Pelosi. Obama ought to be impeached and charged with dereliction of duty. Hasn't he swore to protect and defent the Constitution.
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Re: Re
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Too little to do any real good
In addition, should the government obtain business record information via a warrant that is later determined to not be germain to the matter under investigation then the government should be required to report the extent of the records obtained to the affected parties and to destroy all those records.
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Re: Too little to do any real good
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You're not 'put in charge' of that bill, you have no special powers over that bill.
Just because someone contributes to a bill, does not make it 'their baby' they are also aware that the world will change (but the bill will not), that is expected.
If he feels that strongly about it, let him write ANOTHER BILL, and see if he can get it passed by Congress and ratified. Bitching about past bills you help write is not what their job is.
I don't see this person writing another bill and submitting it.
He might not like it, but he does not, not like it enough to prompt him to DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
When he presents another bill, or proposes an amendment, and it is passed and ratified.
Then it's news, now it's noise.
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Its only job would to repeal laws/regulations/rulings of the other three branches.
Maybe then the monied interests would have some unhappy citizens to answer to.
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The road to government imposed tyranny, oppression,and absolute corruption is paved with good intentions. "I'm an atheist" Sooner or later Americans will wake up as slaves and I really hope I'm not around for that day.
We're on the fast track to another civil war that our children or their children. It's one battle that should not happen and I really hope it doesn't.
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The Clif's Notes Version...
It's kind of pathetic, really. All he really had to do is remind people that most of the meaty stuff in the Patriot Act was written in 1996 by one "Uncle" Joe Biden, and most people would have been easily directed to the proper target.
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Re: Re: Classy
Thanks for explaining the joke, it's much funnier now.
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Freedom Rehab
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