Revealed: the top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant

[Pholus]

30. Seriously, it's just gallows humor.

What do you expect? Observing the sensible one working has got me feeling particularly Soviet right now. For some reason I am really thinking about one of Tim Curry's roles VERY much these days in our exchanges.

Also, isn't this why the whole NSA thing is supposed to bug the hell out of us?

Growing up, I believed the propaganda in the 80's, about how East Germany was a nightmare as everyone had to exist under the oppressive specter of surveillance. My fault I admit, not understanding that the propaganda was apparently meant only to exploit a momentary difference. Like most propaganda I suppose. I just didn't get that it was based in envy.

Now here we are, doing what the Stasi did -- IN SPADES -- and finding that there are about a third of the people who are upset by it, a third of the people who are indifferent and SHOCKINGLY a third of the people who think this is just peachy.

So what to do? It hit me today that most of my old crusty -- OBSOLETE -- jokes about Russia are now completely relevant again, just remove KGB and drop in NSA/CIA.

If that isn't a cutting commentary on what this is all about, I don't know what is. Outrage isn't working and worse people are simply immune to it these days, it's time to simply skewer it by showing how utterly absurd we have become by letting this happen.