Thank You Bernie Sanders: 'The Devil Will Be In The Details' .. 'I Do Not Agree With The President'

[Jack Rabbit]

126. Sabrina's represntation of the discussion is accurate

At 2:48, Mr. Blitzer sets the context of the discussion by quoting the Senator as saying that the current NSA program is a violation of the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. At 3:04, Senator Sanders states "To my mind, when every telephone call made by every single American is on file in the NSA -- that is clearly, to my mind, a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution -- in my mind -- and that's got to end."

In case you've missed it, that is also my view. To those who claim that there is no evidence of any abuse under this program, my answer is that the storage of the data, or metadata, if you prefer, is an abuse of the constitutional rights of citizens in and of itself. So please don't thy to tell me that there is no abuse.

At 3:24, Mr. Blitzer interrupts Senator Sanders to explain President's idea that the information should not be stored at the NSA any longer than necessary. He asks the Senator, "So who's going to store all these records? Who would be an appropriate person or source or institution to do such a thing?"

At 3:45, Senator Sanders says, "Well, Wolf, it's not a question -- you're asking who should store it, the question is whether it should be stored."

Mr. Blitzer at 3:50 interrupts with "The President says they should be stored. The President says that by the end of March, he want a new formula to store all that information so that in case there's a threat of a terrorist operation, they can sort of connect the dots and find out who might be responsible."

We're now at 4:05, when Senator Sanders says, "Again, the Devil is in the details, but I don't agree with the overall position of the President on that issue."

I'm not using paraphrases, but direct quotes from the tape. Nevertheless, I find Sabrina's paraphrasing of the discussion an accurate representation of what was said. "That issue" to which the Senator refers is the issue of whether the NSA program is a wholesale violation of the Fourth Amendment. President Obama obviously believes it is not. Senator Sanders believes that it is and I agree with him.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I honestly do not understand how anybody can read that and conclude that the NSA domestic spying program passes constitutional muster.

The solution is quite easy. If the government has reason to believe a private American citizen is conspiring with international terrorists, then it may get a warrant to search his phone records. The Fourth Amendment has worked for over 200 years and there's no reason to abandon it now.