Dear NSA...Fuck You

[The Ref]

Do you honk at other prius owners too??

I have hair. Otherwise, not too far off.

Best story is driving down a long, straight surface street in traffic and leaving a '67 Corvette eating my Prius dust. Okay, so he was in an unlucky lane with slower traffic. But still. Made my day.

[The Duck]

Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

Probably in reverse, too. And not just here. In general I sense a lot of hypocrisy surround this issue.

When Bush supporters like myself defended the Patriot Act and FISA courts, we were short-sighted and wrong. Not just a little bit wrong, either. We were horribly wrong. The civil libertarians were right.

There are moments when the truth of something presents itself in such a way that you can no longer deny it and still be able to live with yourself. Being right isn't nearly as important as being able to look at yourself in the mirror and know that you've at least made every effort at being honest and truthful. I had enough of those moments during Bush's second term to force a re-examination of everything I'd once believed. Near the top of that list was the Patriot Act, and all of the warrantless surveillance and extra-constitutional detention and security policies that came along with it. The whole thing started to take on a Committee of Public Safety vibe to me, and that vibe has gotten stronger by orders of magnitude as time has passed.

We didn't get ourselves into this virtual panopticon through clear-headed thinking and careful consideration of the parties, men and ideas we advocated for. We got here through a collective blindness induced by a political fanaticism that borders on religiosity. Now we have to wait for the majority of the country to figure out where "here" is exactly and what it means. I'd like to think that's going to happen before it's too late, but I'm not particularly hopeful. In all likelihood, we're well past the point of no return and on our way to the nightmarish dystopia we'd been warned about.

[Kelly Green]

OK, How's This?

You still go to wine and cheese parties but you only eat crackers and fruit...yes? No? Maybe? Huh, huh?

[IronEagle]

When Bush supporters like myself defended the Patriot Act and FISA courts, we were short-sighted and wrong. Not just a little bit wrong, either. We were horribly wrong. The civil libertarians were right.

There are moments when the truth of something presents itself in such a way that you can no longer deny it and still be able to live with yourself. Being right isn't nearly as important as being able to look at yourself in the mirror and know that you've at least made every effort at being honest and truthful. I had enough of those moments during Bush's second term to force a re-examination of everything I'd once believed. Near the top of that list was the Patriot Act, and all of the warrantless surveillance and extra-constitutional detention and security policies that came along with it. The whole thing started to take on a Committee of Public Safety vibe to me, and that vibe has gotten stronger by orders of magnitude as time has passed.

We didn't get ourselves into this virtual panopticon through clear-headed thinking and careful consideration of the parties, men and ideas we advocated for. We got here through a collective blindness induced by a political fanaticism that borders on religiosity. Now we have to wait for the majority of the country to figure out where "here" is exactly and what it means. I'd like to think that's going to happen before it's too late, but I'm not particularly hopeful. In all likelihood, we're well past the point of no return and on our way to the nightmarish dystopia we'd been warned about.

I tend to agree with your opinion. I feel like it started with drug testing for employment/employees in the 80's. Really the justification for the invasion of privacy then is the same justification people are using for the invasions of privacy now.

Then the invasions of privacy grew and grew and grew until we ended up where we are today.

[IronEagle]

When Bush supporters like myself defended the Patriot Act and FISA courts, we were short-sighted and wrong. Not just a little bit wrong, either. We were horribly wrong. The civil libertarians were right.

There are moments when the truth of something presents itself in such a way that you can no longer deny it and still be able to live with yourself. Being right isn't nearly as important as being able to look at yourself in the mirror and know that you've at least made every effort at being honest and truthful. I had enough of those moments during Bush's second term to force a re-examination of everything I'd once believed. Near the top of that list was the Patriot Act, and all of the warrantless surveillance and extra-constitutional detention and security policies that came along with it. The whole thing started to take on a Committee of Public Safety vibe to me, and that vibe has gotten stronger by orders of magnitude as time has passed.

We didn't get ourselves into this virtual panopticon through clear-headed thinking and careful consideration of the parties, men and ideas we advocated for. We got here through a collective blindness induced by a political fanaticism that borders on religiosity. Now we have to wait for the majority of the country to figure out where "here" is exactly and what it means. I'd like to think that's going to happen before it's too late, but I'm not particularly hopeful. In all likelihood, we're well past the point of no return and on our way to the nightmarish dystopia we'd been warned about.

http://projects.propublica.org/graph...lance-timeline

[The Ref]

I tend to agree with your opinion. ....

Then the invasions of privacy grew and grew and grew until we ended up where we are today.

I would love to see how different life would be if there was zero surveillance of any kind anywhere in the country. Legal or illegal. I somehow doubt most people would even know.

I wonder how many people would choose the zero surveillance option? Losing some privacy for my boring email and texts is a small price to pay for the possibility of real bad guys getting weeded out.

There's one scenario that chills me to the bone. Rogue nukes. Don't laugh. Seems to me there is a very high probability leaning toward near certainty that a terrorist nuclear explosion could happen on our shores one day. Lots of crazy smart people in the world who hate us. But it couldn't be done without electronic communication from planning to execution.

So snoop away, NSA. I don't give a fuck.

[The Duck]

I tend to agree with your opinion. I feel like it started with drug testing for employment/employees in the 80's. Really the justification for the invasion of privacy then is the same justification people are using for the invasions of privacy now.

Then the invasions of privacy grew and grew and grew until we ended up where we are today.

Basically, when you hear the words "War on ____", get ready to get screwed.

You're right, random/madatory drug testing was one of the big mile markers on this road. So were random DUI checkpoints. Both are the essence of forfeiting liberty in the name of safety.

Hard to believe it's come to this so quickly. Not surprising, but still surreal.

[The Duck]

I can't wrap myself in the flag? I think the bad part is, the administration is in a damned if you do, damned if you don't position. If they keep going, they are going to have "scandals." If they stop and there is another incident of terrorism, they'll pay a hefty political price (and then some).

There's already been an attack. A high profile bombing of an iconic American sports event that killed and maimed scores of people. And it happened right smack in the middle of this massive, unprecedented communications dragnet.

If stopping attacks is what this is designed to do, it's already failed.

[IronEagle]

I would love to see how different life would be if there was zero surveillance of any kind anywhere in the country. Legal or illegal. I somehow doubt most people would even know.

I wonder how many people would choose the zero surveillance option? Losing some privacy for my boring email and texts is a small price to pay for the possibility of real bad guys getting weeded out.

There's one scenario that chills me to the bone. Rogue nukes. Don't laugh. Seems to me there is a very high probability leaning toward near certainty that a terrorist nuclear explosion could happen on our shores one day. Lots of crazy smart people in the world who hate us. But it couldn't be done without electronic communication from planning to execution.

So snoop away, NSA. I don't give a fuck.

Actually, right now I would agree with the telephone metadata.

But I can easily imagine a world in the future where your boring emails can be used against you.

Who is to decide what is innocuous and what is threatening to society?

As I said, this started with drug testing in the '80s. Back then it was "If I don't do drugs I have nothing to hide'."

I think the bottom line is we all have some things to hide.

My biggest problem here is the Government has been hiding what it is doing.