We have been reassured repeatedly that the three branches of government all have exercised extensive and rigorous oversight over the NSA spying program. Obama repeated this claim just last week:
As President, I’ve taken steps to make sure they have strong oversight by all three branches of government and clear safeguards to prevent abuse and protect the rights of the American people.
Well, those reassurances are almost entirely false. A newly revealed internal audit of the spying program, which details thousands of constitutional violations, was never even shown to the President, Congress, or the FISA court.
The pattern is now clear and it’s getting old. With each new revelation the government comes out with a new story for why things are really just fine, only to have that assertion demolished by the next revelation. It’s time for those in government who want to rebuild the trust of the American people and others all over the world to come clean and take some actual steps to rein in the NSA. And if they don’t, the American people and the public, adversarial courts, must force change upon it.
3 Comments
With an approval rating of 14%, incumbent congressmen and women still enjoy a reelection rate of over 90%. Worry about the level of trust in the U.S. government? Seriously?
They do not care.
Unfortunately, to fix that 90% success rate (at least in the House), you have to fix the gerrymandering problem. But what too many people don’t understand is that gerrymandering is done by the STATE legislatures. You know…those elections that no one pays attention to because they’re too busy screaming about that idiot Senator from the other side of the country.
Hi there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing months of hard work due to no
data backup. Do you have any solutions to prevent hackers?