When the first leaks began to come out about NSA surveillance, the Obama Administration sought to replace demands for reform with promises of increased transparency. Apparently even that’s too much to hope for now.
With Congressional bills from pro-surveillance factions pushing transparency, Obama Administration officials are now condemning those plans as well, insisting they are a threat to national security.
Providing any details about the programs, they insist, “crosses the line of the appropriate balance between transparency and national security.” They provided no alternative beyond the status quo, however.
Any change at all appears too much like trying from the Obama Administration’s point of view: as a proposal to have the NSA estimate how often they accidentally swept up Americans in their surveillance was condemned as “time consuming,” and a waste of resources.
"a proposal to have the NSA estimate how often they accidentally swept up Americans in their surveillance was condemned as “time consuming,” and a waste of resources."
Then the most reasonable course to restore both American and foreign faith in the integrity of American government is to abolish the NSA and bar its current leadership from both government service and private employment (related to intelligence or security) for a period of 5 years.
Unless, of course, restoring the integrity of American government is also viewed as "time consuming and a waste of resources".
"…bar its current leadership from both government service and private employment (related to intelligence or security) for a period of 5 years."
Barred for life, nothing less. And all the Clinton, Bush, and Obama personnel, and their Congressional accomplices, tried for war crimes and (if found guilty) imprisoned for life. A little "Spandau" example to serve as a warning for future "exceptionalists".
The Administration realizes now that of all the legislation that is being formed in the Congress, the legislation that will survive the process and actually become law will have no teeth and other than pure optics, will not change a single aspect of the current programs – and may well instigate the creation of more programs that will be better managed and more secretive. In the end, the WH gets to keep their toys and the American people, tired of all the BS, readily accept that things will now be different (even though things aren't) and they can go back to being fat, dumb, and happy.
I need to check the stats. Anyone know if this is causing increases in people leaving and renouncing US citizenship?