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In reply to the discussion: You know what cracks me up...and I mean all the way the fuck up? [View all]JoeyT
(6,785 posts)Obama really needs to stop defending it. Once you defend something as much as he has this, in the public's eye you're the one that caused it.
Had he not defended the NSA, it wouldn't have hurt him at all. He could have held it up as an example of the excesses of the previous administration and their willingness to shit on the Constitution in their push to turn us into an authoritarian surveillance state. That option is forever closed to him, barring some huge revelation, because the resounding response will be "Then why did you defend it?".
It isn't so much that it ought not hurt him as it shouldn't have hurt him. The average person is going to remember very little about PRISM, but they'll remember that Obama had the NSA spying on their webcams and cell phones, whether it's actually true or not.
Edited to add: And to be fair to Obama, I don't think he knew the extent of the mess when it started. He may just feel stuck on the path defending it because he defended it initially, before all the really bad stuff came out.