Posted on 05/19/2015 7:58:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., isn't worried that, absent a Senate vote, key provisions of the Patriot Act are slated to sunset May 31. The GOP presidential hopeful told "Meet the Press" Sunday that a federal appeals court found the data-gathering authorized under the Patriot Act's Section 215 is unconstitutional, "so really, it ought to stop." He continued: "I don't want to replace it with another system. I really think that we could get along with the Constitution just fine."
Paul spoke to the same effect during a recent trip to San Francisco. He even has threatened a filibuster, if needed, to make the Patriot Act's data collection program go dark.
That's just crazy talk. In his book, "The Great War of Our Time," former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell addresses the "skyrocketing rise in the threat of small-scale attacks" abetted by emerging al-Qaida-inspired groups that are gaining a foothold in foreign lands. (Think al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.) One need look no further than the armed attackers stopped at the contest in which people were drawing Muhammad in Garland, Texas, to see that the approach is working. This is absolutely the worst time to allow any mischief to undermine U.S. intelligence.
Yet in the wake of National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's 2013 disclosure of mountains of classified data, the public clearly is ready to take down intelligence a notch. I support what the intelligence community has been trying to do but was appalled to learn that there are 1.4 million Americans with "top secret" security clearance. The NSA didn't exactly look intelligent when it had to sit back and watch one of its own disgorge sensitive national security practices. Spying is one pursuit that never should be too big to fail.
That baggage prompted the House to pass the USA FREEDOM Act, which would end NSA bulk collection of phone records but allow the government to subpoena data from private telecom companies, by a 338-88 vote. It was a smart compromise.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has opposed the House bill because he wants the Senate to pass a "clean" reauthorization bill without reforms. But with the House bill's strong passage, the federal appeals court ruling and timing -- the Senate is set to go on Memorial Day recess next week -- he has to let go. So McConnell has proposed a 60-day extension because, spokesman Don Stewart explained, after the administration briefed the Senate, "many senators were disturbed with the administration's inability to answer basic yet critical questions about the alternate bulk data system the USA FREEDOM Act would try to set up at some point in the future."
On Monday, Paul conceded that his filibuster probably wouldn't succeed. Paul also said he would vote against the USA FREEDOM Act because it does not go far enough. But the bill promises to curb NSA overreach while allowing officials to follow leads and "connect the dots." Paul argued, "I can force them to debate it so the public at large can know what they're doing." It's a conceit among NSA critics that voters would be outraged if they only knew what the government is doing. But I think the American people know what intelligence officials are doing and why.
Look, if they can stop the Nigeria scammers and moneypac dirtbags, I’ll think they’re doing their job. Otherwise it’s just a big boondoogle so the government to spy on the Tea Party.
Ben Franklin dealt with this issue 200 years ago - “Those who would sacrifice freedom for security will soon have neither.”
Remember this is coming from the same people who,
1) Illegally shipped guns into Mexico in order to blame the 2nd Amendment in a scandal called Fast and Furious.
2) This is coming from the same group of people that used the IRS to target conservative groups in IRS Gate.
3) This is coming from the same group that is now admitted to shipping weapons into Syria to the very same people that killed 3000 people on September 11th, 2001. Which is better known as Benghazi.
4) This is also coming from the same group that is leaving the border wide open in a post 911 world.
This bill is about the NSA spying on political enemies and not real terrorist that are burning down the Middle East.
Remember the DHS just had a meeting not too long ago (month or so?) about “Domestic” terrorist that are now considered the #1 threat.
So who are these “domestic” terrorist that DHS says is the #1 enemy. Hint it is not ISIS or Al Qaeda.
It’s returning Veterans, gun owners, Tea Party and conservatives.
This is even though, according to the FBI Crime stats, as a group have the lowest record of crime. They consist largely of law abiding citizens.
That is what this bill is about.
I sure hope Rand Paul and the rest of you are right. Personally though I think giving up NSA is unilateral disarmament.
And what would this group be using NSA for? Blackmail of Congressmen, perhaps? It would explain why almost all the firebrand conservative electees become Democrat sheep as soon as they get to Washington.
That said, eliminating what the NSA does is not possible. So long as it is technologically possible and cheap enough that it can be funded it will be done no matter what laws and rules are in place, no matter what the USSC might rule. The only difference outlawing it will make is that it won't be talked about publicly any more.
We will live in a total surveillance state until the state collapses to the point where the society cannot pay for it any more.
I agree
Look at how all the surveillance stopped the Boston marathon bombing and caught those crazy Muslims that were upset about a cartoon.
What a bunch of bullcrap. If there was a serious threat, Der dept of zee homeland security wouldn’t have time to think of tea, to raid Gibson guitars, to look for counterfeit watches and movies... etc.
And they don’t get it both ways. They don’t get to build a surveillance state because of the terrorist threat, and simultaneously import hundreds of thousands of moslems from conflict zones. Pick one.
Weak.
You're OK then with a "surveillance state" if we do the right thing on immigration?
Your missing my point locoweed. the govt is telling us they need a surveillance state to protect us from jihadis,,, at the same moment they are bringing in hundreds of thousands of jihadis. I’m saying they need to pick one story. Those two things are mutually exclusive.
Shut the whole thing down!
What does the NSA actually do besides gather vast quantities of data on American citizens? How much of their job is blatantly unconstitutional? Why can’t the constitutional parts of their job be done by the FBI, CIA and other intelligence organs? No Such Agency really isn’t our friend, people have been pointing this out for a long time. It never should have been formed, really should be dismantled, and given how much dirt they surely have on lawmakers it will never be touched.
Hate to sound off a cliché, but the constitution really does matter.
The gubbamint is out of control. Too big, to irresponsible, too expensive, too intrusive, too controlling.
It's time to reign in this federal behemoth.
NSA's mission has always been to snoop on foreign communications, not domestic. They have probably exceeded the requirements and become a domestic threat and need oversight but there's no need to exaggerate.
>Hate to sound off a cliché, but the constitution really does matter.
Yep...NSA, CIA, FBI, local police, etc. should all be made to abide by the constitution and I think NSA can do that too.
Virtually any encryption can be broken - the question is, how much time, equipment, and money do you want to throw at decrypting it. If decrypting is “very, very expensive”, then that alone will severely limit en masse spying. Something that could theoretically change that game is quantum computing.
The rats know that they are losing the WH in 2016. They don’t want to have done to them what they did to us. They want to get rid of the evidence.
Nothing exaggerated about it. We KNOW NSA’s primary target for at least 20 years has been us. We don’t really even know what their job as “always been” since their mission statement was classified for quite a while. And how do you provide oversight on a group who has blackmail power over you? That was the trick J Edgar learned a long time ago, and why multiple presidents tried to fire him and he died in office.
And how do we know that?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.