Determined not to let public backlash and a huge number of lawsuits get in the way of the global surveillance state, the NSA is said to be considering expanding its telephone surveillance program in the near future.
Incredibly, the NSA is arguing that the lawsuits against them for spying on everyone’s phone calls oblige them to collect even more data on everyone’s phone calls, because otherwise they might conceivably be accused of violating evidence preservation laws.
The big expansion would be in how long the NSA keeps its data, as right now they keep the data for five years, but they are now arguing that for the duration of the lawsuits they might just keep everything forever in case it’s relevant.
The expansion of data retention in the program comes as Attorney General Eric Holder is charged with coming up with a proposal on scaling down how much data the NSA keeps from the program. In practice, few expect him to have a serious proposal anyhow, but this new excuse seems set to kill anything resembling reform.
The NSA is daring America to abolish it– if it survives it will see itself as having a mandate to heap an ever expanding list of abuses on the entire world. May God help us if that happens–
Typical act of the corrupt and arrogant. When faced with justice all they do is double-down and break the law even more.
Unfortunately I do not think that the tyranny of the police state, of which the NSA is both central and emblematic, will not be ended within the system. The US government, the executive, legislative, and judicial, exist to execute the will of the banks and Federal Reserve, who can print money at will and buy off or suppress anyone. The banks will never give up their power and the organs of repression that they have created to maintain it. It would take a president willing enough and courageous enough to use the dictatorial powers that the banks have given him, to turn that power against the banks. Sadly, Obama is a spineless and willing tool of wall street. It will have to be us.