NSA Fiasco

As most of you know, an ex-contractor for the NSA/CIA leaked information about some intelligence projects that the government is using to gather information on anybody or everybody, including U.S. citizens. I think it's safe to say we knew this before the analyst spilled the beans, but this really confirms it. The U.S. Government is collecting data on an unimaginable scale which can/could potentially be used against anybody who is targeted. It's some scary shiz.

What are your thoughts on this?

I don't really know how I feel about the whole thing.

A couple of things spring readily to mind.

1. I'm not shocked.
2. I'm not daft enough to think that this is something brand new.
3. Some poor jerk has to sift through the crap I put on the internet and say over my cell phone? Hope he's got spare time. To spare.
4. What could possibly be done to stop it?

I GET the whole 'national security' angle, but at what point is the line crossed on the whole privacy/security thing?
What I don't get, is how quickly this will become another political game chip. The same people who defended the Patriot Act and some of the stuff that happened in the name of NS under the Bush administration are going insane over this. In principal, the goal is the same.

What's irritating me the MOST though.....is my facebook news feed. You'd be amazed at how many people are actually convinced that Obama is doing this for nefarious reasons and is one step away from actually imprisoning and indoctrinating everyone into the Muslim Brotherhood.

......I really don't know why I keep these people.

What I've always wondered is..

Between the Patriot Act and stuff like this, how much has been prevented that we don't know about?

What I find interesting is the reaction in the US over this compared to what's happening in Istanbul. 

Mack wrote: Reb Cpl wrote: I don't really know how I feel about the whole thing. A couple of things spring readily to mind. 1. I'm not shocked. 2. I'm not daft enough to think that this is something brand new. 3. Some poor jerk has to sift through the crap I put on the internet and say over my cell phone? Hope he's got spare time. To spare. 4. What could possibly be done to stop it? I GET the whole 'national security' angle, but at what point is the line crossed on the whole privacy/security thing? What I don't get, is how quickly this will become another political game chip. The same people who defended the Patriot Act and some of the stuff that happened in the name of NS under the Bush administration are going insane over this. In principal, the goal is the same. What's irritating me the MOST though.....is my facebook news feed. You'd be amazed at how many people are actually convinced that Obama is doing this for nefarious reasons and is one step away from actually imprisoning and indoctrinating everyone into the Muslim Brotherhood. ......I really don't know why I keep these people. Conversely, you could modify the bolded section above to point out that the same people who went insane over the Bush administration doing this will be defending this administration.

None of the domestic spying helped prevent Boston. Faulty starting mechanisms prevented the Time Square bombing. I wonder if this program has any success stories? (It is hard to brad about something that "doesn't exist"). Also, I hope this program was run with better intentions than the IRS had.

__sneaky__ wrote: Personally, I am significantly more comfortable with the idea that I may be killed in a terrorism related explosion (or any other kind of explosion for that matter) at some point; rather than knowing that all of my communications are being stashed in a government database in the dessert. I don't care if they will ever actually be read or not.

I'm far more concerned with the Patriot Act and the NDAA than this. I'm all about whistleblowers, but in my opinion the pressure put on the government is to both ensure our safety and protect our liberties.

Now me, I fall squarely in the "Liberty > Safety" camp of things, but the majority of the nation only agrees with me until a terroristic attack. Boston is a great example. I'll I've heard since Boston was the presidents failure to prevent it-AFTER these same people criticize him for impacting their liberties.

I think that, if put to a vote, the majority of Americans would sacrifice personal liberty to protect their kids. In that light, I don't see this particular incident as terribly shocking.

I do see this administration as an abstract failure for the reasons that impulse listed. They've failed to enforce the liberties that the left is supposed to champion and have ignored conservatives on most all issues. To me, this president has represented the irony if running in hope and change but forking over the same muddled political ideologies as his predecessors.

That said, I don't think he's "evil" or intent on destroying the country, I think he is (as are most) so intent on forwarding his own agenda that all else comes in second.

Edited by stratoaxe - 13 June 2013 at 6:19pm

Came here just to say this: