With the PRISM program, which allows the NSA to directly, warrantlessly spy on virtually all communications on the Internet, and other NSA schemes surveilling literally every phone call made in the United States, America has struck the “right balance” between privacy and government power, according to President Barack Obama, adding that spying on the myriad details of Americans’ lives actually protects civil liberties.
Obama insisted it was impossible to have “100 percent security and also have 100 percent privacy,” adding that it was up to the government to make the choice. It seems the answer was to put the sliding scale all the way to the authoritarian side, ushering in a privacy-free era of always-on surveillance.
As the one in charge of the surveillance, Obama is naturally quick comfortable with this situation, and mocked the people who “complain about Big Brother,” a reference to the (somewhat less ambitious) surveillance system in George Orwell’s novel 1984.
Obama went on to condemn media outlets for informing the public about the PRISM scheme, insisting it was unacceptable for news sources to reveal his misdeeds “willy-nilly” and that they were aiding terrorists by informing them (along with everyone else) about just how much surveillance is going on.
Well that's big talk from little miss judge-jury-and-executioner. Aiding the witches by informing us of 100% security? Seems like not a lot of confidence in it's deterrence value. So hey, where's my 100% risk-free life? Gonna drone lightning to death, too? Gonna have Monsanto protect me from poisoning?
The man is a complete waste of time and I look forward to watching him hang.
And some pigs are more equal than others!
hmmm. I'm taking it I went overboard…?
Mass surveillance protects civil liberties.
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
Blah blah blah.
The Sun King Obama can't make this mess go away with his banal platitudes.
I don't think he's actually worried about this "mess"… On this one, even the far-right are standing firm with him and his NSA intrusions. Graham-crackers rushed to the mics to say HE has no problem with the privacy invasion because HE feels safer. It's only those who understand that it really doesn't make anyone safer who care about the loss of freedom. And they'll be marginalized as, here we go…"Anti-America[n]" and helping the terrorists. So, in this one he'll not get touched by the scandal screamers. He was correct, actually, when he stated yesterday that these NSA programs were approved and accepted by the Congress and the Courts – despite those in Congress who claim not to have been informed – pure BS. If hey had actually read the Patriot Act, the NDAA, and the FISA and its amendments and recent changes, they know exactly what they passed. Fools. And we shouldn't allow them to plead ignorance – though that term more often than not fits them perfectly.
Like Bush and his Clean Skies Initiative that allowed more air pollution under Bush. This is the 4th term of the Bush mal-administration though it flows pretty much with the Clinton Bush and Reagan ones before. Republicrats loves them continuity.
Did someone questioned the authority of a police state….? Democracy.., what democracy…? Democratic Party…?
The "R" word is the SOLUTION…
Dear God, I hope you don't mean Republican. 2/3 of the country claim to be an R or D and they are fine with police states. Every R in the mid-west came back with the he's keeping us safe every time Bush ripped up another article in the Bill of Rights. A lot of I's are just embarrassed R's and D's and vote that way anyway. The rest, L, G, C, etc are outnumbered.
Revolt? Rebellion? You're absolutely correct because they'll not listen to anything else.
The powerpoint document leaves the strong impression that the data is shared with many federal agencies. What are the odds that the IRS isn't one of them?
Finally we're get a bit of reality from Obama- the fact that he and his masters in the shadow government don't give a rat's behind about what the American people think. They know their jobs are safe no matter how many laws they break and how much they lie. They know their polices are going to continue no matter what and that no one can stop them. They have the power and the American people better obey and be happy doing it.
Sad, but true.
I bet these guys can tell how many times a week I bang my wife.
Yes, but they won't be satisfied until they know whether or not she was faking it.
Remember TIA – Poindexter's Total Information Awareness? You know, the one Congress defunded? You really didn't think it went away, did you? It was complete and total Kabuki. Yes, Congress "defunded" it – they removed it from the official register as a parent organization…and moved it under NSA who budget is generally not discussed, nor acknowledged, in pedestrian company.
Silly rabbit…
Focus on FISA as being “counter-revolutionary” and
“counter-democracy” as opposed to being what Obama claims as
a 'counter-terrorist' program:
FISA's supposed to be an 'anti-terrorism' program, BUT it is only
"posing as", the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
—– and it's ACTUALLY being used as a broad-based electronic
drag-net and Surveillance Act (ie. "Enabling Act", as the
Nazi Empire called theirs") to 'target' any truth-tellers who
are exposing, 'un-masking', 'calling-out' or otherwise rallying
serious democracy-committed and non-violent Americans to confront
this disguised Secret Global Empire that has 'captured' and now fully
"Occupies" our former country.
The clear objective to the phony (and totally illegitimate) FISA
spying act is to identify, uncover, and prosecute any truth-tellers
(particularly left/progressive public intellectuals, and
investigative journalists) who are the most dangerous categories to
this DUAL-Party Vichy disguised Secret Global EMPIRE.
As was said of the earlier (and merely European Nazi EMPIRE) —
" First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak
out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I didn't speak out
because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out
because I wasn't a trade unionist."
(Then they came for the public intellectuals and academics. and
then they came for the journalists, like they are doing to Glenn
Greenwald — after his exposure of this sham FISA Secret of the
EMPIRE)
Or as Hannah Arendt said of all Empires, based on her experience
with the Nazi Empire:
"Empire abroad entails tyranny at home".
Now Americans are experiencing the turning inward of the Empire's
programs of counter-revolutionary and counter-democracy measures in
the Homeland.
Empire-political-pawn Obama's contention and propaganda deceit
that the FISA is a 'counter-terrorist' program is an absolute lie and
cover-up of the FACT that this is now PRIMARILY AIMED at the most
dangerous category of domestic democracy revolutionaries fighting
non-violently 'against the EMPIRE' —- this striking back at
truth-tellers and journalists is really a "COUNTER-Revolutionary"
and "Counter-democracy" attack by the SGE (Secret Global
Empire) against those who know and say that we need a Second American
Revolution against this disguised Occupying EMPIRE — just as the
founding fathers said of the Occupying British Empire!
Best luck and love to the fast expanding 'Occupy the Empire'
educational and revolutionary movement against this deceitful and
disguised Secret Global EMPIRE, which can't so easily be identified
as wearing RedCoats, Red Stars, nor funny looking Nazi helmets —-
quite yet!
Liberty, democracy, justice, and
equalityOverViolent/'Vichy'Empire,
Alan MacDonald
We don't merely have a gun/fear problem, or an MIC problem, or an
'Austerity' problem, or an expanding wars problem, or a 'drone
assassinations' problem, or a vast income & wealth inequality
problem, or a Wall Street 'looting' problem, or a Global Warming and
environmental death-spiral problem, or a domestic tyranny NDAA FISA
spying problem, or, or, or, or …. ad nauseam — we have a hidden
EMPIRE cancerous tumor which is the prime CAUSE of all these 'symptom
problems'.
"If your country is treating you like shit, and
bombing abroad, look carefully — because it may not be your
country, but a Secret Global Empire only posing as your former
country."
Hmmm….you're mostly right…though I would say that the "hidden EMPIRE cancerous tumor" is just another symptom… The problem is that we have an overwhelmingly uninterested and ambivalent populace which has been cultivated by the Archons to enable them to get us where we are today. The press who was supposed to be the "looking glass" thru which the citizens would use to watch the government failed miserably when they traded their responsibilities for "access." And the American people failed when they abrogated their responsibilities to hold their elected officials (and the press) responsible for their actions and continue to vote these scumbags back into office time after time. This failure has to lie where it belongs…at the feet of the American people who are more interested (lazy) in watching an oblong ball or who is dancing with whom. FAIL.
you are certainly correct to some extent that the people and the press have allowed themselves to be deceived and deluded by the Empire.
But the 'active agent', promulgator, and knowledgeable producer of these awful results is the Empire — it is the protagonist and the people more the passive subjects of such active cancer, parasite, or predator of Empire.
Yes, the German people of the late 30's and early 40's can be partially blamed for their passivity and allowances, but EMPIRE was the designer and agent of the war of aggression and all the subsequent war crimes abroad and at home.
While, I (like you) do not hold the people blameless — there is no chance of starting the needed corrective revolution "against the passive people", any more than colonial Americans could have been ignited to revolt against "themselves" for the acts of the British EMPIRE.
So, curmudgeonvt, from this fellow New Englander, I'll spend my time railing and educating 'against Empire' as the most promising and likely way of starting the over-needed Second American Revolution 'against Empire' (which like the first is the only thing that ever started a successful revolution here.
Best,
A
James Bamford among others is right. Everytime something bad happens the people blame the government for not stopping it. The NSA, Pentagon, and CIA bloat richer in $B's building bigger haystacks of data centers and surveillance for a needle to be searched for making us poorer and less free. I am just annoyed at the morons who believe the propaganda. Especially the idiots in TSA lines getting groped and taking off their shoes while saying at least we'll be safe.
Boston bombers strolled right through all their "security". The Boston bombers did not think about security cameras, or even plan an escape. The Boston bombers set their bombs off in the middle of an ongoing BOMB DRILL, and then they just strolled away.
Glad they kept us so "safe" from the Tsarnaev brothers and their perfectly normal pattern of phone calls to Chechnya and Dagestan about pressure cookers and ball bearings. I say let's leave the "national security" to the proven cams of Lord & Taylor and shut down the FISC and the NSA.
Side by side with the spate of recent TIA surveillance stories is the account of the Chinese government hacking into the presidential campaign of Obama and McCain.
Add to that the speculation that access to the mega-data (not meta data, mark you) available on government computers that is managed by the private sector may be used to augment or even supplant poll data in election campaigns.
Putting all this together could mean the Chinese government has access to phone calls, emails internet habits and activities of millions of Americans including, of course, Congress members.
You've heard of double agents. Well consider "double-representatives". We already have these – those who are doubling up willingly for the Israeli lobby – so why not also those who are doing so under duress for the Chinese lobby. Helping more and more jobs and IP move to China without raising a fuss.
Could happen? Has happened?
Jason, if you value my comments on this Forum, take the comment moderation off this section for me!
[moderator’s note: Jason doesn’t moderate comments, at least so far as I know — Tom Knapp]
Tom, whenever I comment in this section I get the message that my comment must be moderated! Why?
[David,
The short answer is, I’m not sure.
The long answer is that for some reason the news section seems to be set up with tighter filters that subject more comments to moderator approval than the other sections do. I didn’t set that system up, it was in place when I got here. Over time I’ve tried to loosen it up a bit, but it still catches more comments than I like. I try to come through several times a day to approve anything that isn’t spam or hate slime.
Regards,
Tom]
Obama sounds like every dictator in history justifying his oppression. This surveillance is no different to what happened in East Germany. Time for Americans to get out the DVD of that excellent movie "The Lives of Others" and get seriously angry with anyone who supports this stuff.