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NSA boss Keith Alexander's next target is the 1st Amendment.
techdirt.com ^ | Fri, Oct 25th 2013 | Mike Masnick

Posted on 10/27/2013 4:41:38 AM PDT by JerseyHighlander

Apparently not satisfied with just setting fire to the 4th Amendment, NSA boss Keith Alexander's next target is the 1st Amendment. In an interview with the Defense Department's "Armed With Science" blog , it appears that Alexander felt he'd have a friendly audience, so he let loose with some insane claims, including suggesting that the government needs to find a way to "stop" journalists from reporting on the Snowden leaks .

As noted by Politco, General Alexander isn't a fan of journalists doing anything about these documents:

"I think it’s wrong that that newspaper reporters have all these documents, the 50,000—whatever they have and are selling them and giving them out as if these—you know it just doesn’t make sense," Alexander said in an interview with the Defense Department's "Armed With Science" blog.



"We ought to come up with a way of stopping it. I don’t know how to do that. That’s more of the courts and the policymakers but, from my perspective, it’s wrong to allow this to go on," the NSA director declared.

It's not the policymakers and the courts. It's the Constitution, and it says there's freedom of the press.



Other parts of the interview continue to show Alexander spewing things that have already been debunked:

“When you look at the 9/11 commission, it faulted the intelligence community for not connecting the dots. We didn’t have the tools . These [programs we have now] are tools that help us connect the dots. We have learned that lesson once. We all vowed this would never happen again. We should commit to that course of action.”

That's not true . The 9/11 commission argued, indeed, that the intelligence service failed to connect the dots, but it wasn't because they lacked the information . It's just that it wasn't properly shared. The way to fix that is not to collect more information and make it even harder to connect the dots. And yet that's been General Alexander's strategy all along.



Elsewhere in the interview, Alexander laughably tries to pretend that US Cyber Command, which he also controls, is focused on protecting "intellectual property." But that's also not true. As has been clearly stated and confirmed, it's focused on offensive attacks , which it does more than any other country (even as the US government tries to scold countries like China and Iran for their online attacks).



And then, I guess he figures that if he's going to lie about, well, everything, why not go all in, and just claim that these programs aren't "spying."

“They aren’t spying programs,” he says directly. “One is called the Business Records FISA Program, or Section 215, and the other is called the FISA Amendment Act 702 or PRISM.”



The business records program, or Section 215, is probably the most misunderstood of the two programs. The metadata program takes information and puts it in a data repository. Metadata is the phone number, the date, time, group, and duration of the call.



“That’s all we have,” Gen. Alexander explains. “We don’t have any names or any content.”

Except that having that metadata is incredibly revealing and absolutely is a form of spying. If it's not, why won't General Alexander release his phone numbers, date, time, group and duration of all of his calls from the past year? Why not? Because he thinks that's private information. Because it is. And because General Alexander is a hypocrite.

“The oversight and compliance on these programs is greater than any other program in our government.”

Hahahahah. No. This is also a lie. It's been shown that the courts and Congress have admitted they're limited by what the NSA tells them -- and the NSA goes out of its way to avoid telling Congress very much.



Alexander also mocks the recent claims about spying on French phone calls, using the exact same dodge as his boss , James Clapper. Both pretend that the news reports said that 70 million calls were recorded . Alexander mocks this by pointing out it would be impossible to have so many calls listened to, and to find enough translators to understand them. But the reports were about mostly metadata, and just some recordings. Pretending that the press said something that it didn't doesn't make Alexander look trustworthy. It makes it look like he's lying.



Not surprisingly, though hilariously, the blogger for the Defense Department's "Armed With Science," Jessica Tozer doesn't appear to challenge any of Alexander's claims. Instead, she repeats all the statements and mocks anyone who might challenge them:

Some people would rather believe a dramatic, convenient lie than a real, uncomplicated truth. Don’t be that person.

I'd argue that right back at Tozer and Alexander, because Alexander is flat out lying in the interview, based on confirmed facts.

Don’t give credence to speculation, rumor, or hyperbole. Simply put, don’t give into the hype. When it comes down it, a nation without the NSA would be a nation left undefended.



And that, dear readers, is no lie.

Um. It's absolutely a challengeable statement, but the Defense Department, obviously, isn't here for reasoned discussion on this issues.



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 1stamendment; animalfarm; brzezinski; cfr; corruptingtech; defund; facebook; firensa; google; keithalexander; nsa; nwo; prism; rulingelite; secretcourts; shadowgovernment; snowden; spyingoncitizens; sunlight; trickingcitizens; warrantless
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1 posted on 10/27/2013 4:41:38 AM PDT by JerseyHighlander
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To: JerseyHighlander

No States like free speech. To much information has been the enemy of governments since the dawn of time. Look at the Alien and Sedation act in the US for starters.


2 posted on 10/27/2013 4:44:27 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: JerseyHighlander

I don’t remember a time when the 1st Amendment hasn’t been under attack from the left. The “fairness doctrine” they’re always pining for has one major net effect (which they refuse to admit it has): to silence political speech, especially conservative speech. Nancy Pelosi has said she’d vote for it in a heartbeat. And everyone knows what they think about freedom of religious expression.


3 posted on 10/27/2013 4:51:54 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: redgolum

Sedation???


4 posted on 10/27/2013 5:05:21 AM PDT by foxfield (Support the Tea Party. The Tea Party supports you.)
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To: JerseyHighlander

This guy needs to be tried, convicted and punished for treason.


5 posted on 10/27/2013 5:09:11 AM PDT by lafarge
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To: lafarge
I fondly hope for many mass firings when we get sanity back in DC.
6 posted on 10/27/2013 5:21:04 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks ("Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth.")
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To: JerseyHighlander
"I think it’s wrong that that newspaper reporters have all these documents, the 50,000—whatever they have and are selling them and giving them out as if these—you know it just doesn’t make sense," Alexander said in an interview with the Defense Department's "Armed With Science" blog.

The government does not have, nor should it, power to punish media for publishing anything they wish.

However, if it is a crime for me to be in possession of classified documents, it is equally a crime for a reporter to be. The press does not have carte blanche to break laws in pursuit of a story.

7 posted on 10/27/2013 5:21:59 AM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: Telepathic Intruder

“Nancy Pelosi has said she’d vote for it in a heartbeat. “


I for one hope that she and her fellow progressive travelers have very few of those remaining.


8 posted on 10/27/2013 5:44:15 AM PDT by Wurlitzer (Nothing says "ignorance" like Islam! 969)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
I fondly hope for many mass firings when we get sanity back in DC.

When? Hopefully if! The way it is looking now is that the tree of liberty is going to be fed...

9 posted on 10/27/2013 5:47:38 AM PDT by BullDog108 (A Smith & Wesson beats four aces!)
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To: JerseyHighlander
Both pretend that the news reports said that 70 million calls were recorded . Alexander mocks this by pointing out it would be impossible to have so many calls listened to, and to find enough translators to understand them.

Alexander thinks we're stupid. They undoubtedly have voice recognition software that is tuned to look for key words and phrases. You don't have to have people listening. You've got machines now.

10 posted on 10/27/2013 5:51:03 AM PDT by Hardastarboard (You can keep your doctor - if you lock him in your basement.)
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To: Wurlitzer
The fact that they're breathing OUR air is just the last straw.
11 posted on 10/27/2013 5:53:32 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: Sherman Logan

Good points.


12 posted on 10/27/2013 5:54:21 AM PDT by PghBaldy (12/14 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15 - 1030am - Obama's advance team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: Hardastarboard
Alexander thinks we're stupid

With the election and re-election of barrack Obama, the election and re-election of other Democrats and last but not least, the election and re-election of still more Democrats, these posing as Republicans, I would say he has a good case.

13 posted on 10/27/2013 5:55:45 AM PDT by sport
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To: JerseyHighlander

The role of the secret police is to always want more information, more control, more power. Its how its worked throughout history.

The fact we have a military General in charge of this should scare us.


14 posted on 10/27/2013 5:59:07 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: sport

We’re not stupid, we the Conservatives are divided and our power is muted. The leftists have been working on this for generations and are using tax dollars to fund it.


15 posted on 10/27/2013 6:00:16 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: foxfield

Yeah...you remember, back in ‘47? Roswell, NM? Space ship crash? Aliens were sedated and transported to Area 51...:-)


16 posted on 10/27/2013 6:15:29 AM PDT by SgtBob (Freedom is not for the faint of heart. Semper Fi!)
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To: JerseyHighlander
I suspect before the Obama regime is finished, they will try to tear down all the Bill of Rights, the Amendments to the Constitution and the very Constitution itself. Oh, they already ignore the Constitution, so just getting rid of it is not hard work for the dictatorship in D.C. This is what I see this guy as, a dictator. In my life time of service to my country, I never felt the way towards a president that I do this man.

I did not like Jimmy Carter for a minute, but this guy is worse. Carter was basically a little clown. He had nothing to offer to the nation. This guy is a dangerous man. He has set himself up above everyone else and the very founding documents of this Republic. He thinks everything is about him and no one else matters. I could never have served under this president. I would have walked away from a military career because I could not follow this man and what he is doing to my military and the people in it. HE is not telling me that I cannot pray in the name of MY LORD!!! He is not telling me that I cannot share my LORD with anyone else. If he thinks he rules, he is wrong. There is ONLY ONE RULE and HE IS JESUS CHRIST!! Fools such as the dictator in DC do not rule. The are wannabees. But he IS a never be. Only through FORCE can people like him rule.

17 posted on 10/27/2013 6:27:43 AM PDT by RetiredArmy (I am proud to be a Christian and follower of my Lord Jesus Christ. Time is short for U to know Him!)
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To: JerseyHighlander

It was announced about 10 days ago that Alexander and his senior deputy are leaving NSA.


18 posted on 10/27/2013 6:30:07 AM PDT by Brad from Tennessee (A politician can't give you anything he hasn't first stolen from you.)
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To: JerseyHighlander; COUNTrecount; Nowhere Man; FightThePower!; C. Edmund Wright; jacob allen; ...
Buckle up everyone, the gloves are coming off.

Today's word is SAMISDAT. Sam•is•dat. Samisdat is today's word.

Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!

To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...

19 posted on 10/27/2013 6:45:01 AM PDT by null and void (I'm betting on an Obama Trifecta: A Nobel Peace Prize, an Impeachment, AND a War Crimes Trial...)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
I fondly hope for many mass firings when we get sanity back in DC.

I think, thanks to our government's malignant inaction, Iran will be capable firing all of Washington in a single go in a month or so.

Merry Christmas! Ho Ho Ho Ho

20 posted on 10/27/2013 6:49:12 AM PDT by null and void (I'm betting on an Obama Trifecta: A Nobel Peace Prize, an Impeachment, AND a War Crimes Trial...)
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