The Top 5 Claims That Defenders Of The NSA Have To Stop Making To Remain Credible - EFF

[Maedhros]

56. If this is true:

Even if you are right, it hardly matters. As I said above, if the U.S. is attacked, any U.S. president has to be able to say that everything possible was done to prevent it. If it is later shown that the president left anything on the table, then whatever he did not do will be blamed for the attack. The political enemies of this particular president would not hesitate to lie about the cause of any attack or to politicize it for the purpose of impeaching the president.

Then any activity is justified to keep us safe - torture, rendition, Muslim internment camps, collective punishment of Muslim villages, etc.

This is one of my biggest gripes with Obama's leadership style - he fails to act properly because of his desire to avoid Republican criticism. The NSA's surveillance program has been shown to have no significant role in keeping us safe. Continuing it, just to avoid potential criticism, is weak leadership.