Eugene Robinson: Demand Your Privacy

[marmar]

from truthdig:



Demand Your Privacy

Posted on Dec 16, 2013
By Eugene Robinson


It seems our elected officials have no intention of reining in the National Security Agency’s mad-scientist quest to know everything about our communications and movements. If we want our privacy back, we’re going to have to fight for it.

Months after Edward Snowden spilled the beans, the NSA—whose mission is supposed to be foreign surveillance—is still compiling a comprehensive record of our domestic phone calls. Every time you dial, the government can find out who, what, when and where.

We hear a lot of patronizing talk from President Obama and other officials about how healthy it is that we’re finally having a debate about surveillance and privacy, about security and freedom. The subtext, however, is clear: Get over it.

Interviewed Sunday on “Meet the Press,” former NSA Director Michael Hayden offered a stunningly dismissive view of the Fourth Amendment: “We’re protected against unreasonable search and seizure, all right? It doesn’t say that all searches must be based upon reasonable suspicion. So now, unreasonable search and seizure depends upon the totality of circumstances in which you find yourself.” .......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/demand_your_privacy_20131216

[xchrom]

1. du rec.

[Blus4u]

2. From a previous post

rec

from a previous response to 'unhappy camper's" posting of Juan Cole's "Letter to Obama" on the NSA and dissent.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11782601

My response to that post:

"This letter should turn up in droves of bags and bags and bags of US Mail on the President's desk.
Not via e-mail which could be easily made to disappear, but in the US Mail with hard copy.

Two things would be accomplished:

1) It would help our beleaguered Post Office as we as a nation will know no financial pain like it when, FedEx and UPS control ALL written correspondence in and out of this country and;

2) It is only an act like this that may get the man's attention on how blatantly WRONG all of this NSA stuff is.

Thanks for the link and post!"

Peace

[Dustlawyer]

3. Obama knows its wrong, he is a Constitutional Law professor! He is either unable, or unwilling

to stop it. This must be a job for AMERICANS! Too many believe they can do nothing or don't care b/c they have swallowed the bullshit.

[bvar22]

4. "patronizing TALK from President Obama and other officials"

... and THAT is exactly what it is,
"patronizing TALK".

Hope & Change my ass.

*We should let our elected representatives know that while domestic surveillance is currently deemed “lawful,” it is a betrayal of our traditions and values.

*We can let our phone and Internet companies know that we expect them to fight as hard as they can for privacy, not just in their legal arguments but also in using the most advanced encryption technology.

[font size=3]It’s simple: Either we demand our privacy—loudly—or we kiss it goodbye.[/font]

<from same article cited in the OP>

You will know then by their WORKS,
not by their promises, patronizing talk, or excuses.

[Zorra]

5. Yep, from NSA survellance, right down to corporate tracking cookies.

What I do just ain't nobody's business but my own as long as what I do is not criminal or harmful to others.