Posted on 06/11/2013 12:49:03 PM PDT by cotton1706
Sen. Lindsey Graham would propose censoring Americans' "snail" mail if he thought it would help protect national security, the South Carolina Republican said Tuesday. But for now, he says he doesn't think it's necessary.
Faced with questions about the disclosure that the National Security Agency has been collecting phone and email records of citizens, Graham pointed to a World War II-era program in which the federal government censored mail. He said it was appropriate at the time and that he would support reinstating the program if it aided security efforts.
"In World War II, the mentality of the public was that our whole way of life was at risk, we're all in. We censored the mail. When you wrote a letter overseas, it got censored. When a letter was written back from the battlefield to home, they looked at what was in the letter to make sure they were not tipping off the enemy," Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters on Capitol Hill. "If I thought censoring the mail was necessary, I would suggest it, but I don't think it is."
The Guardian newspaper revealed last week details of a government surveillance program enacted in response to terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that secretly collects digital communication data from U.S. citizens. The source who provided the information to The Guardian, a Hawaii-based former government contractor named Edward Snowden, fled to Hong Kong and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
The new details about the program have sparked a debate over civil liberties and the extent of lawful government surveillance. On Tuesday, Graham suggested that Americans should be more willing to give up certain civil liberties to prevent future terrorist attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Does this mean he would be ok with the govt spying on all mosques within the US?
Damn, nice Photo Shop job of Rahm Emmanuel at his first ballet recital.
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