WAPO: For NSA chief, terrorist threat drives passion to ‘collect it all,’ observers say

[Luminous Animal]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/for-nsa-chief-terrorist-threat-drives-passion-to-collect-it-all/2013/07/14/3d26ef80-ea49-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html

In his eight years at the helm of the country’s electronic surveillance agency, Alexander, 61, has quietly presided over a revolution in the government’s ability to scoop up information in the name of national security. And, as he did in Iraq, Alexander has pushed hard for everything he can get: tools, resources and the legal authority to collect and store vast quantities of raw information on American and foreign communications.

His successes have won accolades from political leaders of both parties as well as from counterterrorism and intelligence professionals who say the NSA chief’s efforts have helped foil dozens of terrorist attacks. His approach also has drawn attack from civil rights groups and a bipartisan group of lawmakers. One Democrat who confronted Alexander at a congressional hearing last month accused the NSA of crossing a line by collecting the cellphone records of millions of Americans.

“What authorization gave you the grounds for acquiring my cellphone data?” demanded Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), waving his mobile phone at the four-star general.

.......

He is absolutely obsessed and completely driven to take it all, whenever possible,” said Thomas Drake, a former NSA official and whistleblower. The continuation of Alexander’s policies, Drake said, would result in the “complete evisceration of our civil liberties.”

Alexander frequently points out that collection programs are subject to oversight by Congress as well as the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, although the proceedings of both bodies are shrouded in secrecy. But even his defenders say Alexander’s aggressiveness has sometimes taken him to the outer edge of his legal authority.

Glenn Greenwald comments:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/15/crux-nsa-collect-it-all

"The outer edge of his legal authority": that's official-Washington-speak for "breaking the law", at least when it comes to talking about powerful DC officials (in Washington, only the powerless are said to have broken the law, which is why so many media figures so freely call Edward Snowden a criminal for having told his fellow citizens about all this, but would never dare use the same language for James Clapper for having lied to Congress about all of this, which is a felony). That the NSA's "collect it all" approach to surveillance has no legal authority is clear:

"One Democrat who confronted Alexander at a congressional hearing last month accused the NSA of crossing a line by collecting the cellphone records of millions of Americans.

'What authorization gave you the grounds for acquiring my cellphone data?' demanded Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), waving his mobile phone at the four-star general."

I know this is not as exciting to some media figures as Snowden's asylum drama or his speculated personality traits. But that the NSA is collecting all forms of electronic communications between Americans as well as people around the world - and, as I've said many times, thereby attempting by definition to destroy any remnants of privacy both in the US and globally - is as serious of a story as it gets, particularly given that it's all being done in secret.

[Luminous Animal]

1. Kick.

[hootinholler]

2. The old slurp and burp

Slurp up all the phone calls that cross your wire and later you can burp out details.

[DirkGently]

9. This needs meme treatment, stat. n/t

Last edited Mon Jul 15, 2013, 01:33 PM - Edit history (1)

[hootinholler]

11. Please do!

I've been trying to get people to say slurp and burp. My photoshop skills are worse than none, plus I'm at work.

[Catherina]

3. 'What authorization gave you the grounds for acquiring my cellphone data?'

answer: "the outer edge of his legal authority"

In other words, totally illegal.

[DirkGently]

4. Everybody thinks they can wield unspeakable power responsibly. We know better. Gollum, gollum.

[chimpymustgo]

5. It's ILLEGAL and frightening. K&R

[Luminous Animal]

6. The security and surveillance state... eradicating our right to free speech and peaceful assembly

Locking Out the Voices of Dissent
By Chris Hedges

NEW YORK—The security and surveillance state, after crushing the Occupy movement and eradicating its encampments, has mounted a relentless and largely clandestine campaign to deny public space to any group or movement that might spawn another popular uprising. The legal system has been grotesquely deformed in most cities to, in essence, shut public space to protesters, eradicating our right to free speech and peaceful assembly. The goal of the corporate state is to criminalize democratic, popular dissent before there is another popular eruption. The vast state surveillance system, detailed in Edward Snowden’s revelations to the British newspaper The Guardian, at the same time ensures that no action or protest can occur without the advanced knowledge of our internal security apparatus. This foreknowledge has allowed the internal security systems to proactively block activists from public spaces as well as carry out pre-emptive harassment, interrogation, intimidation, detention and arrests before protests can begin. There is a word for this type of political system—tyranny.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/locking_out_the_voices_of_dissent_20130714/#.UeP97O_SMMs.twitter

[Luminous Animal]

7. Sen. Blumenthal" FISA court secrecy must end

On any given day in Washington, 11 judges — all designated by Chief Justice John Roberts, without congressional advice or consent — convene to hear surveillance applications from the United States government. Behind closed doors and without checks or scrutiny, they balance the threats of espionage and terrorism with Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches and seizures. But the odds are stacked strongly in favor of the federal government. Last year alone, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, known as the FISA court, heard nearly 1,800 such applications from the U.S. government; not a single request was denied. In its entire 33-year history, the FISA court has rejected just 11 of 34,000 requests.

Until recently, few Americans had heard of the FISA court. Yet this federal body, created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and expanded under the PATRIOT Act, wields tremendous power. FISA requires the government to obtain a judicial warrant prior to commencing particular kinds of intelligence operations within the United States, and the FISA court is empowered to provide these warrants. FISA court judges decide whether the government can tap phone calls, access business records and sweep up a wide array of data that can be used to map the contours of our daily lives. After the court rules, its findings are almost never made public. Americans whose privacy may be compromised by FISA court rulings cannot read those rulings, much less contest or appeal them.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/fisa-court-process-must-be-unveiled-94127.html#ixzz2Z7n4UTCx

[Luminous Animal]

8. Kick.

[Luminous Animal]

10. "I know this is not as exciting to some media figures as Snowden's asylum drama"

Apparently, it is not as exciting to most DUers either.

[hootinholler]

12. Welcome to the club

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023244550

At some point we will hit a critical mass, and we will hopefully have something like the Plame threads happen.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrpts absolutely." Lord Acton

[ProSense]

14. Contrary to WaPo, NSA Massive Domestic Spying Predates 2005

Contrary to WaPo, NSA Massive Domestic Spying Predates 2005
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023262084