Whenever terrorists attack republicans oblige them using the tragedies to trample on our liberties [View all]

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from Greg Sargent at the WaPo:

Attack in France shouldn’t blunt drive for NSA surveillance reform

Politicians and Beltway commentators are today consumed in a debate over whether President Obama, in failing to attend the march in Paris, failed to show solidarity with the victims of the terror attack and the cause of free speech in general.

Meanwhile, beyond such hand-wringing over symbolism, the attack could have an actual impact on national security policy here at home: It could make it that much less likely that lawmakers will get serious about reforming National Security Agency bulk surveillance of Americans’ communication records...

A year ago, President Obama — after coming under withering pressure in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations — came out for reforms of NSA bulk surveillance, including the legal process by which the government can query metadata. But the most significant reform he called for — removing the metadata itself from the government’s hands and placing it under the control of phone companies or a third party — has been left to Congress to carry out.

The push for reform was filibustered in the Senate last year, but lawmakers may once again be forced to confront questions about what to do about the program. That’s because the section of the Patriot Act that is the basis for the surveillance program is set to expire on June 1st. While there are some indications the program might be able to continue in some form even without Congressional authorization, there will be a Congressional debate over whether to reauthorize it, and whether to reform NSA surveillance in the process...

The revelations about NSA bulk surveillance raised hopes that an alliance of civil liberties progressives and libertarian conservatives concerned about national security overreach could come together to force reform. But plainly momentum has flagged. House GOP leaders — with the complicity of some Democrats who oppose reform — may simply move for a vote to reauthorize the program. It’s also an open question how hard Obama will push Congress to pursue changes to it. And with some lawmakers seizing on the France attack to kill all hopes of reform, it remains to be seen whether that left-right coalition can make anything happen.


read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/01/12/attack-in-france-shouldnt-blunt-drive-for-nsa-surveillance-reform/