Making You "Comfortable" with Spying Is Obama's Big NSA Fix

[limpyhobbler]

Barack Obama held a press conference on Friday afternoon, supposedly to announce reforms of the NSA's far-flung surveillance programs. In reality, the White House briefing was the start of a marketing campaign for the spy programs that have turned so controversial in recent months. And the President's message really boiled down to this: It's more important to persuade people surveillance is useful and legal than to make structural changes to the programs.

"The question is, how do I make the American people more comfortable?" Obama said.

Not that Obama's unwilling to make any changes to America's surveillance driftnets -- and he detailed a few of them -- but his overriding concern was that people didn't believe him when he said there was nothing to fear.

In an awkward analogy, the President said that if he'd told his wife Michelle that he had washed the dishes after dinner, she might not believe him. So he might have to take her into the kitchen and show her the evidence.
...

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/09/making_you_comfortable_with_spying_is_obamas_big_nsa_fix



This government can't get this through it's thick skull. We don't like the programs. We don't want to get comfortable with it. We will not learn to enjoy it. It's not us, it's you. So now stop what you're doing. The deciders are too insulated from popular democracy.

[zeemike]

1. Well, Winston Smith came to love Big Brother.

And became comfortable with it...so why not us?
And there are some who now insist we must...or the bad guys will get us...

[lame54]

17. Great - more tax money spent on millions of rat cages

[whttevrr]

52. Yeah but...

Winston needed a caged rat to be put on his head.

There has to be a better way.

[zeemike]

56. Yes but he was a hard case.

Most people are far easier to force into compliance...and some like it that way and loved big brother from the beginning..

[whttevrr]

61. too true

[roguevalley]

63. on another thread someone said they didn't care if he makes us 'safe'

even here, the lie works. Those who give up freedom for 'security' deserve (and don't get) either. Wait until some pug dick gets in there and uses what Mr. Obama has accelerated from bush. How much do you suppose that person will care there? I do remember Nixon getting ass whipped for like behavior.

[zeemike]

64. Frankly I think it is a certainty that a rethug will get in there.

The set up for that is becoming more and more obvious.
That is how they will give democracy the coup de grass.
Which is what they have in mind...the ruling class has never liked the majority rule right from the start.

[Swagman]

86. he did and some DUers are still fighting the Cold War now

Snowden is in Russia.

[snappyturtle]

2. I see another 'cat food commission' or '9/11 commission' arising from

the turmoil only to be followed by months of probably secret investigations
during which time the American populace will be duped into thinking the
problems are being addressed. All the while, the collections will proceed. imho

[leftstreet]

7. Excellent! We can just wait for the book

I think you're right though

[sabrina 1]

78. Yes, that is what this was about, imo. They realized they had not succeeded in tamping

down the fire after Snowden's revelations so something had to be done.

Congress acted so fast on this it made my head spin, and nearly got through a first step towards defunding this nonsense. They went back to work on several other bills, stating the first was a trial run and despite the pressure not to vote for it, it nearly passed.

How better to delay the next few bills from going forward (funny that, I thought we were all about going forward) than to backtrack a little and make promises to 'set up a task force'.

Congress should accept his promises, but they should NOT stop what they are doing. No way. We need to do something fast and I hope Congress isn't stupid enough to fall for these delaying tactics.

[chimpymustgo]

91. The phony "terra alert" at the embassies stopped momentum, changed the conversation, & bought time

to come up with this bullshit. Soothing words, comparing spying to "doing the dishes."

Hey, Obama. We saw what you did.

[millennialmax]

3. I already was comfortable. eom

[NorthCarolina]

4. He obviously has no choice in the matter. Those pulling his strings are calling the shots,

and you WILL become comfortable with invasive, deliberate, and unconstitutional domestic spying. Remember, Bush told us long ago that the Constitution "is just a goddamn piece of paper". It's pretty evident Obama, or at least those he is beholden too and calling the shots, hold that same view.

[rhett o rick]

74. Sadly, I agree. It aint Obama's fault, he is just a figurehead. nm

[Autumn]

5. Sorry, he's going to fail miserably on that.

This is one American that he's just not going to get in that comfort zone of his.

[snappyturtle]

21. I agree and don't feel comforted at all about the suggestions of

working with Congress (we know how that goes), appointing an advocate
(in appropriate cases), a website and a panel of outside experts (who have
probably been through the revolving door). I don't think we're going to get
what we need: answers to why all this collection is going on in the first place.
After all, the gov't has for decades had capabilities of examining suspicious
behavior of individuals without throwing us all into the haystack.

[Autumn]

25. One can almost guarantee we will not get what we need.

[randome]

6. More transparency, less secrecy. And you are STILL dissatisifed.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[markpkessinger]

9. It is the scope of the surveillance that is the problem n/t

[randome]

12. Yes, 1.6% of the Internet is too much.

You do know the NSA's primary responsibility is to monitor foreign communications, right?

You do know they go after, not only terrorists, but international child pornographers, black market organ sales, human trafficking, and other crimes, right?

All I'm saying is that since we are getting more transparency, it's time to encourage that instead of denigrate it. Or was that not the objective in the first place?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[markpkessinger]

16. That is a laughable statistic . . .

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023438572

[randome]

19. It's only 'laughable' if you choose to always see the worst in everything.

1.6% of anything is still miniscule. Maybe you could tell us what percentage you would be comfortable with? And perhaps you could point me to evidence that says American citizens' Internet data is part of this 1.6%?

Of course any answer would be meaningless since you have no idea what kind of investigations the NSA is pursuing.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[whttevrr]

53. "Globally, roughly 99 percent of the world's communications travel over undersea fiber-optic cables"

"A Guide to What We Now Know About the NSA's Dragnet Searches of Your Communications"

[randome]

57. So what? The NSA is prohibited from 'scooping up' Americans' Internet usage.

There are no laws that will stop law enforcement from abusing their authority. All we have to protect us are the rules and regulations that go hand in hand with our laws to make abuse as close to impossible as we can.

Unless someone has evidence that the NSA is 'scooping up' Americans' Internet usage, it is all just unwarranted fear and hyperbole. Because apparently fear and hyperbole are easier to dispense than getting into the nitty-gritty of policy decisions.

There are so few actual suggestions from DUers about what the NSA should be doing. It's 90% 'Evil Obama!' screeching.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[whttevrr]

60. It's the math I have issues with.

1.6% sounds innocuous. But when you stop to consider that 51% of traffic is non human.
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/03/15/0056253/51-of-internet-traffic-is-non-human

And another 30% is netflix.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-205_162-20063659.html

Then you throw in youtube, porn, and other avenues for transmitting tv, video, and movies... And that 1.6% number takes on a different perspective.

Your comments on this topic have been varied. This is not a personal attack. But, I really don't see a 90% evil Obama screeching thing going on... It is more like a plurality of skepticism towards the NSA.

It seems like the 1.6% number in and of itself is a minimization of the effort being put into the surveillance of internet traffic.

[Dustlawyer]

90. 1.6% of something wrong is still wrong! Besides, that's how it starts now, 10 years from now it

will be 100%! This violates the 4th Amendment and should not be tolerated! This is a really big deal! That much power is too hard for crooked politicians to resist.

[MNBrewer]

11. Well, YES!!!!

[pscot]

23. "Talk" about more transparency and less secrecy

Nixon's advice still holds; watch what he does, not what he says.

[randome]

38. How would you ever know that anything is being done?

Laws, rules and regulations are all we have to protect ourselves. What would satisfy you? Being put personally in charge of the NSA?

I agree, keep the pressure up. I disagree with trying to tear a man down for attempting to comply with our demands.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Civilization2]

89. Where is this "More transparency, less secrecy" ? Only talking points currently, and small changes

at that,. more concret change is need here.

Real reforms of the current Big-Intel corporate feed trough secret budget system, are what is needed.

[ProSense]

8. Here's a better analysis of the President's proposals

EFF analysis of NSA announcements: Devil's in the details.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023439446

[cantbeserious]

20. References To The EFF - Would Not Have Happened Without Snowden's Leaks - This Made My day

eom

[riderinthestorm]

65. +10000 nt

[Enrique]

10. applies to a lot of things

status quo you can believe in.

[cantbeserious]

13. Some No Longer Trust His Words - His Transparency Is Opaque Doublespeak To Protect Illegal Acts

eom

[snappyturtle]

22. Bingo! nt

[Divernan]

42. "Imprecision" is Obama-speak for lie.

In his remarks, Obama said the White House was having to respond to a "changed environment" where disclosures being released "drip by drip, you know, one a week, to kind of maximise attention, and see if they can catch us on some imprecision on something".

Democratic senator Ron Wyden, a leading critic of the NSA's bulk surveillance powers in the Senate, welcomed Obama's proposals, but called for greater detail. "Notably absent from President Obama's speech was any mention of closing the backdoor searches loophole that potentially allows for the warrantless searches of Americans' phone calls and emails under section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," Wyden said.

The senator was referring to a disclosure in the Guardian based on a top-secret document which indicates the NSA has a secret backdoor into its databases under a legal authority enabling it to search for US citizens' email and phone calls without a warrant.

The document, published on Friday three hours before Obama's announcement, contrasts with assurances that president and senior intelligence officials have previously given that the privacy of US citizens is protected from dragnet surveillance programs targeted at foreigners. "I believe that this provision requires significant reforms as well and I will continue to fight to close that loophole," Wyden said.

I found Obama's use of the term "imprecision" to be particularly offensive. Obama is a combination of what the Brits would call a slyboots and an artful dodger:
Slyboots (noun - UK old-fashioned informal)
Definition: a person who avoids showing or telling other people what he or she is thinking or intending.
The nickname "Artful Dodger" is still commonly used to refer to someone who is good at avoiding responsibility or the consequences of his or her actions.
Prior to creating the character, the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist, Dickens had first used a similar term in his previous novel, The Pickwick Papers. At the close of Chapter 16, Sam Weller refers to the recent schemes of Mr. Jingle: "Reg'lar do, sir; artful dodge."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/09/obama-nsa-surveillance-reforms-press-conference#start-of-comments

[Coyotl]

14. The question, Mr. President, is how to make gov't responsive to the American people again!

NOT "The question is, how do I make the American people more comfortable?" Obama said.

[Demeter]

66. The Question Is: Defend and Protect the Constitution!

As he swore TWICE to do.

Dereliction of duty, Mr. President. That's Impeachable.

[forestpath]

15. Obama's version of relax and enjoy it.

[HooptieWagon]

27. My first thought. nt

[dkf]

33. Wow. Scary.

[Waiting For Everyman]

18. We're never going to get comfortable with giving away our Constitutional rights.

NEVER.

He needs to make the NSA conform to the Constitution or end the NSA. Same for the other agencies, programs, and courts. That includes ending the abusive secrecy, which of course isn't Constitutional either.

A good first step would be some firings and prosecutions. High on the list should be whoever was involved in coming up with the definition of "relevance" for the FISA court, and the judge who approved it.

Secondly, since there are 1.5 million people with top secret security clearances, every member of Congress should have one, and be fully cleared to have any question they may have answered, and most of them available publicly. Anything that is too secret for Congress to know about is too secret to be going on.

[Th1onein]

39. ABSOLUTELY.

We aren't GOING to "get comfortable" with being spied on. Just ain't gonna happen.

I'm incensed by these programs, and by the idea that everything that I send over the internet, or say, or send on my phone, is collected and STORED by the government. I'm fucking mad as hell, and I am NOT going to get over it.

STOP SPYING ON ME. Period.

[limpyhobbler]

70. yes that's a key point

They really ought to zoom in on that definition of "relevant". If everything is relevant to an investigation, then "relevant" is meaningless.

It's a cliché nowadays to say something is Orwellian, so I'll just say it's an incredible fraud.

And all the judges on the FISA court were appointed by John Roberts??? It's bonkers to defend that.

[JDPriestly]

24. We have good reasons for not liking this program.

It will chill our speech. If the government knows what we say on DU and we get a government that we on DU really don't like, the government can make our lives miserable just because it does not like what we say -- which reflects what we think -- so not like what we say or think.

We already seem to have government-bots who defend everything our leadership does as it is. In fact, these types are becoming something of a joke as people ask them point blank or through human humor whether they are working for the President or the government, and they respond like machines, like computers would.

We can expect more and more of that sort of "person" on the internet. And the government (who cares what party at this point?) will get better and better at manipulating information and us in that way.

Let's face it. A human being applying a lot of time (a real pro) can prepare several well organized posts full of citations in one day. But when you see what presents itself as one human being presenting these perfectly composed posts with lists of citations day after day always defending the President, then you begin to think you are not dealing with a person but with a paid propaganda tool.

And it will get much worse. That promotion you wanted at work. Your politics are wrong no matter how hard you work for it.

It's hard enough for a person without personal connections to get good opportunities.

[limpyhobbler]

71. chilling effect - yes

Last edited Sun Aug 11, 2013, 01:35 AM - Edit history (1)

That's the real reason, or a major reason these surveillance programs are dangerous.

That's where it really hurts our actual freedom to think and speak non-conformist, non-mainstream ideas. Maybe most importantly, we need that private communication space to be able to organize for power, like workplace organizing or political organizing, movement organizing, and stuff like that.

[pmorlan1]

26. Don't be Fooled

Check out this passage that he said at his presser:

So, specifically, we can take steps to make sure civil liberties concerns have an independent voice in appropriate cases by ensuring that the government’s position is challenged by an adversary.

Appropriate cases? Hmmmmmm. Not in every case only in appropriate cases? What is your definition of "appropriate", Mr. President ? When should an adversary to the government's position in the FISA Court be excluded? Do we exclude an adversary who argues against the government's position in any other court setting?

I watched him say this yesterday and I was immediately stunned that he so brazenly stuck in this weasel word - Appropriate. This man is not interested in any kind of reform. Don't let him fool you.

[limpyhobbler]

72. It's sad that

we've come to the point of questioning every word that comes from the government's mouth on these issues. But what choice do we have when it's so clear they can't be trusted.

I guess "appropriate" means they will set up some process but they reserve the right not to use it if it becomes inconvenient or could embarrass the government.

You're right on the money.

[bhikkhu]

28. I wouldn't beat him over the head for doing the right thing

as far as transparency. Its not everything, but it is a good step, and anyone should be able to recognize that you don't punish steps in the right direction, and you don't punish people for doing what you asked them to.

[totodeinhere]

35. Is it a good step, or is it one step forward and two steps backward?

Or is it just window dressing? I don't see this slowing down the scope of NSA spying one bit.

[AppleBottom]

37. Then why is Snowden being persecuted?

Talk is cheap Obama needs to take drastic action in order to correct the ship just like Edward Snowden did.

[bhikkhu]

47. For gaining a security clearance, stealing mountains of classified data

and giving it to the press?

I suppose one could argue that he had good intentions, and that there should be no such thing as classified material, but it would be hard for the government to just say "nevermind, we know you meant well", unless they were going to ditch the whole idea of security clearances and give up on classifying anything.

That seems like a no-government-is-good-government libertarian argument.

[AppleBottom]

49. Crimes against the American people and violations to the Constitution have NO business

being classified. That is a FAR cry from saying that nothing should be classified so please don't come back with such disingenuous arguments.

[bhikkhu]

50. Letting the courts decide is still a far better course in the long run

than running away to Russia, I would think.

[AppleBottom]

55. Maybe the things Snowden knows about Secret Laws and secret courts

Have given him the insight to know better than to trust the system that allows such matters to be carried out. Just look at the videos of government sanctioned murder that Bradley Manning has released and the high fives that go on around such horrific actions.

[rhett o rick]

75. I think you are too quick to give him credit for something he should have done 5 years ago.

Besides, he hasnt "done" anything yet. It's all rhetoric until we see results.

[jberryhill]

80. It's good to know you won't beat on his head

[Jack Rabbit]

29. When it comes to domestic surveillance, I'm an abolishionist

Talking about reforming the surveillance state is simply absurd. The War on Terror was and continues to be as phoney as a three dollar bill. As many have observed, this kind of massive surveillance didn't save any lives in Boston this Spring. That is not what it is about. It is more effectively used as as early warning radar system against popular dissent, something that the government and its corporate masters will need in an era of "free" trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The threat to democracy and national sovereignty posed by the TPP must be accompanied by wide spread surveillance and control of the population or the "free" trade regime will fail under the weight of mass resistance.

It is in our best interests to make sure that we can resist a world wide corporate totalitarianism. Accordingly, mass surveillance cannot be reformed. These programs must be dismantled.

[Th1onein]

40. I agree with you, Jack Rabbit.

Abolish it. Period.

STOP SPYING ON ME.

[woo me with science]

45. "these programs must be dismantled."

Thank you. That is the ONLY acceptable solution.

[limpyhobbler]

77. We're already not supposed to be having it...

Even the Patriot Act, or FISA Am. Act, doesn't authorize mass surveillance except in the formerly-secret interpretation that was just released yesterday.

But yeah we ought to just end it.

[AppleBottom]

30. Mass induced Stockholm syndrome

[wtmusic]

32. My overriding concern, Mr. President, is that you don't believe me

when I say I have nothing to hide.

What an idiotic comment to make. He is apparently mentally challenged by the concept of checks and balances.

[blackspade]

34. "The question is, how do I make the American people more comfortable?" Obama said.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

Obama's reassurances do nothing for me without actual transparency.

[woo me with science]

44. His reassurances do nothing for me without

stopping the mass spying. I don't care how transparent the process is; mass spying on a country's own citizens is a totalitarian government type of thing and is totally incompatible with our Fourth Amendment.

[blackspade]

51. Completely agree

My point is that actual transparency would lead to the shut down of this abomination.

[rhett o rick]

76. Oddly if he supported legalized marijuana, we might be more comfortable. nm

[blackspade]

81. Indeed.

[pansypoo53219]

36. THE MEDIA INSISTS ON MAKING YOU PARANOID.

maybe we need another hit.

[99Forever]

41. I will NEVER "get comfortable"...

... with UNConstitutional spying on We the People by your or any other administration, Barack.

Enough fucking Weasel Words, just stop doing it, PERIOD.

[NoOneMan]

43. Turd polished

[woo me with science]

46. K&R It. Must. Stop.

Thank you.

[historylovr]

48. K & R

[WillyT]

58. K & R !!!

[grasswire]

59. good comments, limpy

Right on the mark.

[limpyhobbler]

69. thanks, glad you agree

It's good to see there are alot of people who aren't too happy about mass surveillance.

[Douglas Carpenter]

62. And just what's so bad about feeling good? This approach has always been used for war

No non-psychopath would feel anything but revulsion and horror at the thought of war - any war. But with some music, parades, speeches, inspiring books, movies and TV shows and heroic legends - even children are led to love war. Parents are proud to send their child off to war. Why can't we do the same with spying?

[Mira]

67. A friend from Germany called me tonight

He said to not think for a minute this is dying down in Germany. That half of all news casts are still devoted to smoldering fury.

[MisterP]

68. par for the course: if McCain tied up the American people with a bow and delivered them to Big

Insurance, gave our trillions to the most corrupt banks, declared he could execute any American he pleased if a camarilla of slavering lackeys wrote them down on a list for him, gave the Patriot Act a steroid injection, funded ultraconservative Salafist militias in Libya and Syria while feeding them with dronings, Surged in Afghanistan, made a secret Chinese NAFTA, etc.--well, there'd at least be a relatively big camp parked outside one of his houses...

[rhett o rick]

73. The President either embraces the authoritarian spying on Americans or he has been

given no choice but to candy-coat the Constitutional violations of the Republican Spy programs.

[L0oniX]

79. Now imagine a repuke POTUS in control of the NSA. Does the idea of that upset you?

Would you rather not have had Snowden reveal this shit? Yeah I'm sure you'd rather be ignorant of it ....NOT! This game of pretend Democracy is over.

[jsr]

82. No worries, it's all good.

[silvershadow]

83. It's part of the conditioning. nt

[BlueCheese]

84. The only thing that would make me comfortable is to stop these programs.

The government should not be storing the data of Americans who are not suspected of a crime.

Why is that so hard to understand?

It doesn't make it okay that some secret court's secret decision says it's fine.
It doesn't make it okay that there were some secret rules on when you could look at someone's data if no judge is involved.
It doesn't make it okay that you've now finally acknowledged these programs, after deliberately lying to Congress-- and by extension the American public-- about them

The programs themselves are the problem. Stop them.

[nolabels]

85. BAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW, I knew they were into the mind reading thing

Captain Obvious needs to sit down in that back seat, we give no free rides here. You pay for what you get, and at current tab, you haven't paid for anything yet (trying to sound like them, how am i doing?).


And besides you know those handlers only want to make you feel MORE comfortable

[polynomial]

87. redesign NSA O.K.

We the people are on this sphere called planet earth moving through an ‘either’ in space. We the people because of lies and deception in governments or religion have been suppressed of knowledge the real nature in how many things work, worse not sharing, a failed educational system.

Many debate maybe it was Archimedes that discovered the calculus. All that mathematics kept suppressed over centuries make all wonder how we would evolve because it is the reasoning used in mathematics that helps us think. Or even Newton was erred in his molecular theory for over a century till he was proven wrong.

Pythagoras it is told even murdered an associate to keep what was considered an error in his mathematical reasoning secret, it was not an error it was natural. Imagine through the ages what is considered by the few, such as collected data being shared by everyone as a threat is really the obstacle to we the people in our evolution.

Or today our secret one percenters and the secret federal reserve the secret Swiss banks the secret Cayman island bank accounts all transported secretly by encrypted code. But we the people have no encryptions like that.

Now making my argument that on one hand we the people in away have accepted global consciousness, like the global market place. But the voice of a living wage spoken in this global reasoning appears to be wrong. It is not; actually a living wage is so self-evident as the stars that perpetuate the galaxies we the people travel in. All begs the question; where in heaven’s name are we going? To answer in a Democracy with transparency creates a fair common sense we all need to know what this thing is called life as we know it.

Obviously we the people need to share in the understanding to have the freedom and liberty we need to be able to drill for knowledge. Drill baby drill for knowledge to the future, not fossils for fuel, new energy. Meta data collected can resolve war maybe eliminate it, if globally understood like the weather report can sound an alarm as the electromagnetic ‘Paul Revere’.

Imagine we the people all of us have the capability to watch the threat of terrorism, we the people have a neighborhood watch, why not a global watch. That is a staggering horrifying result to the hate based minds operating to profiteer under the constitutional shield disregard and abuse the constitution by part of we the people that originally pledged to defend.

Especially the Zimmerman bias needs to be adjusted, so self-evident are mainstream media exposed the hate based medium they are where we the people have to endure.

[Progressive dog]

88. We could unilaterally disarm after we dump the spying,

Governments spy. They do it because they have enemies who plot against the government. The President did not ask you to enjoy it. Government has functions other than providing for your joy.

This decider was elected twice by a majority of American voters. The second election was only ten months ago.
The House and Senate passed the bills that allowed this.

[limpyhobbler]

93. I guess most of us are OK with some spying but are against mass surveillance.

That's the problem really. There will be nuance in individual opinions but in general it seems like most people agree the governemnt has overstepped its appropriate authority.

This decider was elected twice by a majority of American voters. The second election was only ten months ago.

But he didn't tell us he supported mass surveillance. Or maybe he did tell us and we didn't understand. It doesn't make any difference. If we fell outraged by something we learn now, after the election, then we continue to exercise democratic pressure on the authorities to change their behavior.

The House and Senate passed the bills that allowed this.

No they didn't. Well it's a point of debate. The Congress passed laws allowing for collection of domestic business records that are relevant to an authorized investigation. The President says "relevant" means all communications can be logged because everything is relevant. That's not true though. Everything is not relevant to an investigation of terrorism. That was not the intention of Congress in passing the Patriot Act.

[Progressive dog]

94. There has been no mass surveillance.

The ability of a criminal like Snowden to do personal surveillance may exist but not to the extent he claims. That criminal claimed to be able to tap the President's phone lines.

[woo me with science]

95. "War is Peace."

"Freedom is Slavery."
"Ignorance is Strength."
"2 + 2 = 5"
"There has been no Mass Surveillance."

[Progressive dog]

98. I'm not surprised you think so. nt

[limpyhobbler]

96. Did you see the Verizon FISA warrant ?

How is that not mass surveillance? If not what would you call it when he government gets access to everybody's phone logs?

[Progressive dog]

97. It is storage of phone records to prevent their destruction.

No, it is not mass surveillance.

[limpyhobbler]

99. Why shouldn't they be destroyed? Why should the government collect Verizon customers' phone logs?

[Progressive dog]

101. Why should they be destroyed, how does their

continued existence harm anyone? The government could subpoena them after a terrorist and perhaps catch some helpers.

[limpyhobbler]

103. or they could use them to bust weed dealers and disrupt political protests

They should be destroyed so nobody can read through them.

[MrMickeysMom]

92. 1984....

1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___
1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___1984___

[Puzzledtraveller]

100. K&R!

[kenny blankenship]

102. And if you find the buzz of drones overhead unnerving, silent propellers will be fitted

so even though you know the drone is there, you won't be able to hear it circling your location. Every step will be taken to neutralize your objections to constant surveillance, you may rest assured!

Soft selling the police state is his main function now.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

104. You Never Had any Privacy on the Internet Anyways

Just ask the totalitarians, they'll tell you all about it.