Seriously, fuck these guys:
Despite the political and media furor surrounding the recent news about data collection by the National Security Agency, the appetite among some top lawmakers for undoing the legislation that allowed the sweeps is meager.
The revelations that the government obtained millions of Verizon customers’ phone records, and that the NSA directly accessed information from top Internet service providers, prompted libertarian and liberal lawmakers alike to decry the news.
But congressional leaders have been reticent to suggest legislative changes. It’s a signal, insiders say, not to expect Congress to roll back the laws that empowered the secret courts to authorize the programs.
“I can’t imagine any legislative proposal to amend some of these programs will be passed by Congress,” said Jim Manley, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev…
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., issued a joint statement noting the intelligence community has “helped protect the nation.” Chambliss earlier this week said the surveillance was “nothing new,” and Feinstein pointed out that Congress received briefings on the NSA’s activity.
Reid said this week that people should just “calm down.” A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, referred a reporter to the committees of jurisdiction, avoiding the topic. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., noted that the program has halted attacks.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina even defended embattled Attorney General Eric Holder this week, arguing the NSA and FBI’s telecommunications collection is an effective national security tool.
“Most members of Congress would rather err on the side of security than on the side of privacy,” said John Feehery, who was an aide to former Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
The only people who seem to have any sense about themselves are Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders. I suspect that Paul is giddy about trying out all the neato things he just learned about libertarianism without ever taking a philosophy course, but Sanders has been a decent defender of civil liberties. Not that any of this matters. Congress is made up of a series of asshats who don’t give two fucks about anyone’s privacy. They’re more concerned with installing a host of draconian measures that won’t prevent anything so that when something inevitably does happen, they can claim that they at least tried. Come on, voters! We did everything we could! Now where’s my campaign check from defense-related corporations that need fear and war and spy machines in order to survive?
Fuck these guys.
Filed under: Politics and Social, Pure Rage, Rant, Rights | Tagged: Congress, Fuck you |
For the Sake of Science 
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin
I fully agree with Benjamin Franklin.
I’m sick of hearing that times have changed, and that a little invasion of privacy is worth it. Usually starts with, “the founding fathers could never have foreseen…”
““Most members of Congress would rather err on the side of security than on the side of privacy,” said John Feehery.
Then they shouldn’t be in Congress, obviously.
“They’re more concerned with installing a host of draconian measures that won’t prevent anything so that when something inevitably does happen, they can claim that they at least tried.”
Quite right, I heard something about an assault weapons ban a while back…
On that note, this is exactly the sort of thing the ACLU was upset about regarding background checks. Their concern there was that while it may or may not result in some added security, the question of privacy as it applies to mental health records concerned them.
I’m not for or against background checks, but I have a feeling that the main result of expending background checks and trying to impose greater review of peoples metal health records would be fewer people seeking mental health care. Might make things worse, could make things better. That’s why I’m in the middle.
Arguably this program may have saved more lives than the mentally ill take each year, raising a question about why privacy is to be respected in one instance and not in the other.