The Office of the Director of National Intelligence reports that the secret authorization for the NSA to collect data on Americans’ phone calls, which was set to expire today, has been renewed by the FISA court.
Of course, there’s no reason to expect the secretive FISA court to do anything less. In 2012 the FISA courts saw 1,856 “requests” to authorize government surveillance, and every single one was approved as a matter of course.
The one unusual aspect of the announcement is that it was made at all, as of course most FISA grants of new government surveillance powers remain secret. The DNI says public interest in the phone surveillance program sparked the announcement.
Which is putting it mildly. Many Americans are offended by the government collection of their private data, and the Obama Administration seeks to reaffirm the “legality” of doing so as a way to quiet the growing outrage over it.
We have met the enemy and the enemy is the FISA court. FISA court has the authority to "authorize" surveillance?
That a court can do so wouldn't eat me up too badly. That it never sez 'no' is a damning clue to it's nature.
"…Many Americans are offended by the government collection of their private data…" Ooooo…the American people are offended…and…even some of the Congresscritters are angry…they say…and…well, obviously nothing is going to change. The corruption continues – but people are still offended. And if anyone really thinks that anything of consequence will happen – you know, change things to comply with the Constitution…well, don't hold your breath. It's all a show, obviously. Soon, something more riveting will come along and the headlines will change and the American people will find something else, something different to be offended about…and the FISA courts corruption will continue uninterrupted. When does the new season of Dancing With the Stars begin…oh, wait, football starts up in less than a month…
We are lazy fools. We've been watching them build their tools for controlling us, for years, and we've done little to curb the erosion of our liberties. They've corrupted what it has meant to be American. And we sat there and allowed them to do it.
Many, if not most infamous laws were legal…even the "Final Solution ."
Of course; all laws are legal.
Court? More like a kangaroo court, eh?
Now that government folks may be listening in to our phone conversations, proper phone etiquette in an age of surveillance is more important than ever. Some helpful tips http://envisioningtheamericandream.com/2013/06/26…