Posted on 08/19/2013 11:29:34 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
On Aug. 9, the Obama administration released a previously secret legal interpretation of the Patriot Act that it used to justify the bulk collection of every American's phone records. The strained reasoning in the 22-page memo won't survive long in public light, which is itself one of the strongest arguments for transparency in government. As the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants."
Recent revelations by the Washington Post emphasize the need for greater transparency. The National Security Agency failed to report privacy violations that are serious infringements of constitutional rights. Beyond these blatant violations, the foundation of the programs is itself illegal.
Section 215 of the Patriot Act authorizes the collection of certain business records — in this case, phone records — when there are reasonable grounds to believe that the records are relevant to an authorized investigation into international terrorism. The key legal term is "relevance."
Under this relevance standard, the administration has collected the details of every call made by every American, even though the overwhelming majority of these calls have nothing to do with terrorism. Since first learning of the program this spring, I have been a vocal critic of such dragnet collection as a gross invasion of privacy and a violation of Section 215.
The administration's memo begins by acknowledging that its interpretation of the statute is at odds with the plain meaning of "relevance." It argues there is a "particularized legal meaning" of relevance, but it ultimately concedes that it fails to meet this standard as well.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It’s not for good, and it’s not being collected legally.
The best indicator of a PHONY ADMINISTRATION is the number of its REAL SCANDALS.
Commie Obama’s talking points are thus smokescreen distractions for the products of Obama’s first 4 years in office:
* Refusal to close US Southern Border to Mexican illegal alien invaders
* No known un-forged records of Place of Birth
* No known un-forged records of University grades
* Benghazi Massacre
* Dereliction of Duty as CIC during Benghazi Massacre
* Cover up of Benghazi Massacre
* Destruction of Seal Team Six
* Cover up of Fast and Furious murder of US Border Agent by Exec. Order
* IRS-Obama’care” Commune Death Grip on Wealth and Health
* NSA-Gestapo Death Grip on all citizen’s communications
* Use Courts against News Media
* Use of Supreme Court to install Un-Constitutional Obama’care’ Tax
* Destruction of the US Coal Industry
* Refusal to permit XL Pipeline construction
* Trillion Dollar a year Federal Overspending
* Monthly violations of the US Constitution by Obama
* Use of Exec. Orders to bypass Congress
ping
“Yeah, and those people here who did object to it were treated to pleny of “why do you hate america?” and “go back to DU, Soros plant!” But I guess now that someone with a different letter next to his name is in the white house it’s cool to question handing that much power to the government.”
I believe that’s a lot of why conservatism has such a black eye with the general public. The hypocrisy of the Bush years.
<><> Benghazi do-nothing WRT slaughtered Americans
<><> Hillary's State Dept covers-up sex scandals---obstructs justice---scrubs investigations
<><> Holder's DOJ (labels journo Rosen a criminal--seizes AP dcumnts--snoops USSC/Congress' blackberries)
<><> IRS political targeting
<><> IRS steals 60 million private medical records
<><> HHS' Sibelius strong-arms Obamacare insurance providers for money
<><> secret NSA snooping
<><> IRS sending $45 Million/32,000 EITC refunds to illegals at ONE address.
<><> Snowden globe-trots w/ US secrets
<><> EPA uses phantom email accounts
<><> Holder's Fast and Furious gun-running; savage drug cartels kill two US border patrol agents
<><> 5 million Ohaha henchmen w/ top security clearance---Ntl security undermined
<><> govt wiretaps rose 71% last year alone
<><> O's drones shoot down Americans outside military parameters
<><> monstrous TSA travesties
<><> Solyndra and other green money-laundries
<><> sucking up to gays and other predator/perverts
<><> forces Boy Scouts to admit gays.
<><> Obamacare (and other laws) violated at will
<><> The Data Hub---HHS' database of personal info
<><> PP'hood profiteering---will control Data Hub
<><> forcing primitive populations w/ Third World loyalties on US taxpayers
<><> violating 2nd amendment rights
<><> empowering Planned Parnthood's abortion savagery
<><> PPhood genital-sniffers as O'Care navigator
<><> police state---monitoring license plates 24/7
<><> food foreign aid---EBT card abuse
<><> Obamas' non-stop luxe tax-pay vacays.
<><>DOJ advises Muslim council edgy social media posts violate civil rights/religious freedom---
<><> Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev's inflammatory postings not mentioned
<><>DOJ asserts "global Christian terror" (?) rivals worldwide Islamic violence threats
<><> Obama orders shutdowns of coal-fired, electricity generating plants
<><> Big Brother surveillance/punishment
<><> radical judges/Obama commissars hostile to 10th Amendment.
That and the almost violent reaction some of us got here during those years for pointing out that building your economy with a nation of mortgage brokers and wedding planners while re-classifying fast food jobs as manufacturing might not be such a great idea. Oh, and we were called a bunch of anti bush, america hating nutters for buying gold at $400/oz and silver at $5/oz. Those threads were a hoot.
“That and the almost violent reaction some of us got here during those years for pointing out that building your economy with a nation of mortgage brokers and wedding planners while re-classifying fast food jobs as manufacturing might not be such a great idea. Oh, and we were called a bunch of anti bush, america hating nutters for buying gold at $400/oz and silver at $5/oz. Those threads were a hoot.”
I remember that GWB could do no wrong here. And supposedly freedom loving conservatives cheered things like the Patriot Act. I also remember the shoutdown of anybody who questioned even lightly the decision to invade Iraq.
This boards majority was cheering for war and I remember a story here about some guy in Maine or somewhere who was escorted out of a shopping mall for wearing a T-shirt with a peace sign on it. Plenty of Freepers thought that was A-OK.
Now it’s 10 years farther on and the Dems are in power and it’s conservatives getting the boot put on their necks and many here are squealing about their loss of freedom. Maybe the loss of anybodys freedoms should have overrode viewing politics like a spectator sport.
Absolutely right. The problem with this article is that it seems to take the attitude that the Patriot Act was a good and sound law, it's just that the powers that it provides the government fell into the wrong hands.
The bottom line is that the Patriot Act should be opposed in any administration's hands.
“The really sad thing (beyond FReepers getting bashed for what would come to pass under Obama) is that in hindsight we should have seen all of this coming. The Bush administration grew government and accumulated power like nobody’s business, only to be one-upped by Obama.”
The sad thing IMO is how little we really care for freedom.
Plenty of conservatives thought increased government power, and more encroachment of personal liberty was fine...as long it was our guy doing it to people we don’t like. The argument that the power would remain in the hands of the government long after our guy was gone fell on deaf ears and in many cases caused the people making that argument to become quite angry
The very things that are causing outrage here now were fine when GWB did them. There wasn’t any outrage then because it was our political opponents who were screaming. The bigger principle didn’t seem to mean diddly squat.
We all helped screw it up conservatives and liberals.
I have a liberal co-worker that hates Obama because he’s doing so many of the things that they protested GWB for...and then I have liberal co-workers who think that as long as it’s their guy doing warrant less taps and civilian surveillance it’s A-OK.
He abused it exactly the way we said he would back when Bush signed this into law.
“Another major problem is that we don’t have any “our guys” anymore”
I don’t think we’ve had anybody in a very long time.
At the end of the day, all the elite...and that’s political, social, economical are on the same side. The partisan aspect and what letter they have after their name is just a way of keeping everybody not in the “Club” from noticing that we’re being manipulated and herded like sheep.
Like I mentioned already, I have some liberal co-workers, and it’s both funny and sad that an overpowerful government scares all of us except we can’t unite to fight back because as long as it’s a Republican doing it then our side is OK with it and as long as it’s a Democrat doing it, they’re OK with it.
I’m reminded of Simpsons episode from around 96 where the space aliens took over America by morphing into Clinton and Dole...and of course they kept preaching that they were the only choice...otherwise you’d just be wasting your vote lol.
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