Diplomats from Several Countries Set Up Meeting to Discuss Snowden Case

[JDPriestly]

22. Whereas I do not blame Obama at all, at all, at all.

There is nothing he can do that he has not already done. This cabal in the NSA and the CIA and in the rest of the snoopers and controllers was there long before he became president. He has reigned them in to the extent he can, but he can't do much.

That is a big difference between my view of this issue and the views of many other DUers. I think that Obama has done what he could do, although I wish he could and would do more. I don't doubt his wisdom at all.

Another difference between my view of this and those of others is that because of sheer accidental circumstances in my life, I happen to have traveled some in Eastern Europe and been able to speak with people, for example, from Poland, who lived through the repression there. For some years, I lived within driving distance of gun-towers, almost medieval fortifications, that dotted the borders between East and West. I travelled for reasons having nothing to do with politics across those borders.

So, I have experience with people who were frustrated and silenced by the surveillance of their governments, and I am very, very wary of it. It discourages discussion. It is incompatible with true freedom of speech and press and even religion. We cannot afford this massive collection of metadata.

That does not mean that the government should be prohibited from collecting the specific data on specific people who are believed to have or thought to have committed crimes if the data could be relevant to solving the crimes.

That is a totally different matter.