Obama Announces NSA Spying Reforms

[mariusmotea]

Because in USA are only two political parties no mather who is the pressident, about 1000 people will always be at the lead of the USA. Until something dramatically changes the vote of the people does not matter.

 

[cjlindman]

i miss slick willy.

 

[Shin-san]

"We like these provisions in the Patriot Act"

"... oh wait. Now the Democrats can use them! Oh shit!"

 

[Marcus52]

Obama is using the same show job that has been used for decades now; We are only interested in protecting the American people". I'm certain that's mostly true for 90% of the people that work for the NSA and other government agencies, maybe even 99% - but that has never been the issue.

The issue has always been what happens when people interested in something besides catching terrorists gets hold of data they shouldn't be looking at? What happens when those people make up stuff to win convictions? What happens when they prioritize conviction rates over the rights of the people? These things are no longer protected even to the degree they were 50 years ago, Checks and balances, the fundamentals of American democracy, has been totally side-stepped, and we are no longer protected from the bad guys doing bad things with the data they gather.

That was one of the big points Snowden was trying to make - as a lowly contractor, he was able to do within the system things no single person should be able to do. We need credible oversite, and I don't see anything Obama proposes here giving us that.

 

[Guest]

The dystopian fantasies of yesteryear are now a reality. We’ve allowed the coming of an age where the civil liberties our forefathers fought so hard for are being eroded by the day. Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly are mere ghostly images of their original intent. We’ve woken up to an Orwellian Society of Fear where anyone is at the mercy of being labeled a terrorist for standing up for rights we took for granted just over a decade ago. Read about how we’re waging war against ourselves at http/dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/09/living-in-society-of-fear-ten-years.html

 

[gbwatson96]

We know this is only rhetoric. Obama signed into being the NDAA act that nullifies the Bill of Rights. What does that mean? We have entered the age of Communism in the US. The NDAA basically states that if the government agencies (many of whom answer to no one in the government) can detain you with telling you what you did, hold you as long as they want, you have no right to an attorney. In essence, your are a citizen who subjects to military tribunal. That is un-Constitutional.

The real problem is Obozo. He has a long history of family who are Communist, Socialist, Marxist and his associates are racist. The whole government needs flushed out. Not one of the Congressmen or State Reps have said boo about the NDAA. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem in my book...

 

[gbwatson96]

We know this is only rhetoric. Obama signed into being the NDAA act that nullifies the Bill of Rights. What does that mean? We have entered the age of Communism in the US. The NDAA basically states that if the government agencies (many of whom answer to no one in the government) can detain you with telling you what you did, hold you as long as they want, you have no right to an attorney. In essence, your are a citizen who subjects to military tribunal. That is un-Constitutional.

The real problem is Obozo. He has a long history of family who are Communist, Socialist, Marxist and his associates are racist. The whole government needs flushed out. Not one of the Congressmen or State Reps have said boo about the NDAA. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem in my book...

 

[therabiddeer]

@acadia
Yea, Obama has clearly done such a great job handling this whole thing, curtailing the NSA's power and pardoning Snowden and letting him back into the country as a free man. Totally.

 

[someperson123]

kenyee:

""Given the history of abuse by governments..."
And yes, that's why everyone thinks politicians speak w/ forked tongues

The history of politicians stomping on the Bill of Rights started w/ the 2nd Amendment, which was my early warning system...they did it w/ impugnity because people hated guns.
Now they're doing it w/ the rest of the Amendments and it's *far* more flagrant because they don't care if they get caught any more. They started this w/ the Patriot Act and have continued doing anything they can w/ every crisis that happens. This hopefully is obvious to people now and they'll just vote all the career politicians out. (hey, I can dream "

It goes back much farther that the Bill of Rights. The Roman Senate was well known for spying on, and sometimes even assassinating, those that dissented the Senate. That happened even in the privacy of your own home. Many Roman citizens were afraid to speak out against the Senate, even in private, because of this.

That was over 2,500 years ago.

Does anyone think that politicians will change anytime soon?