Chambliss said he recently spent time with NSA officials and was assured that the programs Greenwald describes have been exaggerated.
“I was back out at NSA just last week, spent a couple hours out there with high and low level NSA officials,” Chambliss said. “And what I have been assured of is that there is no capability at NSA for anyone without a court order to listen to any telephone conversation or to monitor any e-mail.”
After all, a couple of hours with Nanny ought to be enough to sooth anyone.
Another Potemkin village idiot visit.
They believe because the alternative is to nightmarish to contemplate.
Better to believe the authors of injustice than to see it.
This is what you deal with In a family court. Imagine it 10 times worse in the intelligence community where all are suspect, except Islamists.
Video Shows Court Officer Sexually Assaulting, Then Arresting Mother While Judge Does Nothing
http://blazingcatfur.blogspot.ca/2013/07/video-shows-court-officer-sexually.html#disqus_thread
So… ABC not credible on Zimmerman, credible on NSA. No wait… ABC credible on Zimmerman not on NSA…. No… no. time oout here…. ummmmm.
Gezuz, sober up.
Here.
http://www.afr.com/p/national/transcript_interview_with_former_KnS7JDIrw73GWlljxA7vdK
In other news, ABC recently interviewed John Wayne Gasey and found him to be a completely upstanding pillar of the community…
So let’s see here, Chambliss spends “a couple of hours” with the NSA, and he’s completely convinced. So the question here is, is the good Senator a dupe, or is he down with it?
Then there’s this little gem.
“They used to be, but that stopped two or three years ago.”
So after weeks of denials that content was being examined, now we have a confession that it was under the microscope, but everything’s all hunky-dory because they’re not doing it now?
So now it’s time for all so-called conservatives to ‘fess up. You’re either against this massive invasion of privacy or you’re just another stooge in bed with the liberals and socialists building The Great Big State.
Sure…I’d have no problems with assurances like that.
I mean, I remember the media mouthing the assurances from Dildo McDinky’s bureaucrats that food safety legislation “was not intended to impact events like church suppers”.
Color me skeptical on this …
Of course, he is not telling you that the “court order” comes from a captive court that is part of the NSA. The people the court order is against have no representation, We did not need nor ask for this level of domestic freedom reduction while fighting the incompetent NAZIs, Japanese, and Soviet and Chinese communist spy and terror apparatus. They evidently were de classe’ and pikers compare to the highly competent and feared ragheads.
OCB, the Star Chamber nature of the NSA “court” is probably the most sinister aspect of the entire business. That body violates just about every judicial precept that’s evolved in the last 400 years or more of British Common Law. As you rightly note, this is a pathetic opposition indeed for such a construct of state oppression of its own people.
What an awful way for that great country to come to an end!
∞ ≠ ø:
Nice try, but 90% of that interview has nothing to do with what is at stake here. And, the dear general’s characterization of Snowden is way off … it’s simply a lie … it’s as if the man has not been following what has happened. Snowden can reveal to the world code and the architectural structure of Prism … but he hasn’t. His concern, and most any freedom loving person’s, is that data mining one’s entire population, and building a data base that maps out each individuals digital life, soon to include medical records and every move their vehicle makes, is a blueprint for the world’s first digital tyranny. The dear general is a typical spook … he needs to be sent to a retirement home along with each and every power hungry operator who condones what is happening. The NSA has gone rogue … it is in a state of gross over-reach … and after all that has happened with the IRS, EPA, DOJ, and others, you’d think that everybody would have their blood running cold. The secret courts notions, with no congressional over-sight should be the final nail.
But no … toss a little China fear, a bit of Putin is a fascist finger wagging … and of course Muzzi mania, and too many people are willing to sell their soul to the state. America and the West have battled fascism, and communism, and Islamism without resorting to the destruction of hundred of years of common law. Essentially, the good general is out on damage control peddling guano.
Cjunk, I agree with everything you say except this bit.
“The NSA has gone rogue…”
I don’t think it’s gone rogue at all, any more than the IRS went rogue over investigating political opponents of the regime. The NSA is doing what is expected of it by its superiors. The fact that the American people weren’t really advised of everything the Patriot Act really meant is just a litte bagatelle to be finessed around. Just as the Obama administration didn’t think the American people really needed to know that the IRS had become part of the Democrats’ election machine.
Well, 90% of that should have inflicted some sobriety regarding what the NSA does and all that is encompassed in a high tech world.
Foreign attacks today are coordinated in part on U.S. soil. It is the unfortunate result of ridiculously loose immigration and border security policy. Couple this with the fact that much international communication is run through servers on U.S. soil and you should be able to see the dilemma. In short, we have been invaded. If that was apparent, I think sentiments would be different.
Old Country Boy isn’t that old. The interment of Japanese, German, and even Italian Americans took place during WWII. Coupling with that, the technology and level of threat was so diminished it is easy to see we are in far greater peril today. The sacrifice I make is less troublesome than the captcha on this site. The greatest threat to my security does not come from government monitoring, but from all the data that private companies have made available about me on the internet.
Let’s not forget that we do have a court. Judges are appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court. Why bother? We do because there is concern for privacy and in all the hubub and wording like CGH’s extreme invasion of privacy I fail to see the material harm, which is what most libertarians really care about.
As to Snowden, the moment I read his bio I knew two things. The vetting process was broken or had been penetrated. Secondly the background screams of NPD. A later article confirmed my suspensions revealing that Snowden had been diagnosed with epilepsy. He’s in the airport because he is not an asset.
“I, sitting at my desk, had the authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president if I had a personal email.”
If you buy into this I pity your lack of insight.
I hold that if the NSA were to go rogue, they would do so against this administration. You cannot tell me that career foreign intelligence officers think much of Obama or his administration. Think of the work that has been ruined. They do what their told but they don’t blow with the wind. At this point I do not believe this administration has gained control of the NSA.
Here, some fun for you at my own expense.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rq5XrYspXcA/UL_rgDKLShI/AAAAAAAAAdU/SjUHJDPbFLA/s1600/kipLyallCartoon_surveillanceState_72dpi.jpg
I am that old. I don’t see us interning muslims in this country, even though they “bombed” us. I don’t see us protecting ourselves against our attackers. Instead of securing our borders, we open them to one and all. We allow foreign powers to operate indoctrination academys and madrassas on our soil. What do we do? We operate massive surveillance against our own people, but specifically give the terrorists a free ride. As far as supervision of the star chamber court by our chief justice – I’m sure you are not that gullible. I doubt the Chief Justice has reviewed even one of the warrants. How would any concerned party even request or start a review process. And, the Chief Justice has already put into question his judgement with the “obamacare is a tax” theory, therefore upending the entire culture and economic viability of The United States.
“…I fail to see the material harm, which is what most libertarians really care about.”
Harm is not the issue. Invasion of privacy is the issue. The state cannot be allowed to violate the rights of individuals in fundamental ways no matter how seemingly small. Which makes the “if you have nothing to hide” argument irrelevant.
You persist in seeing this as purely a national security issue. That too is irrelevant. You do not suspend the fundamental rights of individuals, period. This is about security of person. And as to the national security question, this is the main basis upon which every scheming totalitarian rascal in history has sought to introduce hither-to unacceptable methods of state power over the individual.
Which leads to the real issue which you are avoiding. Powers accrued by the state will always be used in ways not confined to the supposed national security casus belli.
Puh-leese. The guy’s first name is “Saxby”, he’s obviously down with the Oligarchy…
007: “That’s Bert Saxby???? Tell him he’s fired.” (as he tumbles down a cliff)
Oh common CJunk, you know these are just ‘Phony Scandals.’
,