For John, BLUF: The people inside the DZc Bubble want to snoop not our private lives and Congress (and the Federal Courts) should be protecting us. Nothing to see here; just move along.
I was about to author a blog post condemning in the strongest possible terms the Senator Leahy associated bill on EMail security from Federal Government snooping, when a new article popped up saying that Senator Leahy, from Vermont, has abandoned his support of the Department of Justice approach, although he hasn't gone back to his original position. The article lede:
Sen. Patrick Leahy has abandoned his controversial proposal that would grant government agencies more surveillance power -- including warrantless access to Americans' e-mail accounts -- than they possess under current law.Really, does the National Labor Relations Board need to be able to see my private EMails without a warrant? I don't think so. Are we still worried about Harry Bridges?
The Citizenry needs to keep an eye on the Administration and the US Congress, to ensure our privacy rights are not further eroded. This erosion of our rights started before President Bush and 9/11, although it accelerated under his Adminstration and continues to go in the wrong direction under President Obama's Administration.
We have to be vigilant.
Regards — Cliff
The problem is that "the citizenry" is quite blind when it comes to "seeing" what the Federal government is doing with regards to spying on its very own constituents. When we "discover" that the EPA (for instance) executive class operate with private email accounts using aliases (claiming that BOTH accounts are open to inspection...but then....why the need for an alias?), this is hardly "transparency." I suspect that the use of that term is further evidence of the failure of American education in that what the users of the term MEAN to say is "translucency."
ReplyDeleteBut enough of that......with the establishment and achievement of Full Operational Capability...the giant domestic listening and looking center in Utah is already making the nightmares of '1984' and "Animal Farm" a reality, albeit an unseen one.
Mind you, the Feds snooping on the American people is nothing new. They've been crawling up people's pant legs for decades upon decades.....but at least there was a "sense" of "restraint" in those past activities. Today, we have seen the removal of all sense of propriety or regard for the privacy of others. After all, in newspeak, in the millieu of The New World Order, the needs of the one are subservient to the needs of the many.
Today, it was announced in the media that DARPA is hard at work on an AI system that will "predict" human behavior at the individual level....thus...the Feds will be able to take action BEFORE someone violates a law...or an executive order. Finally...the Federal government is on the cusp of giving real meaning to the phrase..."Don't even THINK about it."
Leahy's office is saying CNET got it wrong.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/electronic-communications-privacy-act-patrick-leahy_n_2166759.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/21/1163701/-No-warrant-for-emails-NOT-SO-says-Senator-Leahy#
I take your point about the Leahy office denying that they had shifted, but I am still worried about the Bill itself. The last para in the Huffington Post article notes that the Administration is not denying that they want the freedom to read our EMails and then take action in court (as opposed to the NSA reading them, but not being able to go to court with the information, directly).
ReplyDeleteI want to see the Bill, not just as it is presented to the public, but the detailed analysis, and also not the Bill as voted, but the Bill as reworked by Staffers after the vote and before it hits the President's Desk.
As a friend of mine, a retired Foreign Service Officer with an interest in Domestic and International Affairs, said: "I am more concerned about this and similar actions than I am about Al Qaeda."
Regards — Cliff
Now it's clear...
ReplyDelete