Replies

I find it interesting how few people understand the difference between intelligence-gathering and investigation of a crime.

Intelligence gathering, at least in this case, is by definition focused on trying to find people before they commit a crime. Preventing the crime or terrorist attack. That means, also by definition, sifting through massive amounts of information, most of it utterly innocuous and produced by completely innocent people, to try to isolate out that tiny percentage that is indeed a threat.

If we know who and where the threats are, they are not really much of a threat. They’re just some guy named Mahmud who wakes up in an alley with his throat cut.

Some think that allowing such investigation is too much of an imposition on our civil liberties, and I sympathize with that POV. They should just be aware that if this work is not done, then we give up much of our right to complain when the next 9/11, possibly a nuclear version, occurs.

There are, of course, entirely legitimate debates to be had about the margins of what should and should not be permitted.

Some think that allowing such investigation is too much of an imposition on our civil liberties, and I sympathize with that POV. They should just be aware that if this work is not done, then we give up much of our right to complain when the next 9/11, possibly a nuclear version, occurs.

How about we apply some logic to the situation.

The government refuses to follow the "law of the land" in actually building a border fence. They refuse to secure our borders and they allow all kinds of people in from every mid-east hellhole there is if they claim persecution. They ignore those staying beyond their visas. All of this is undeniably the truth

You claiming that we need to allow the government to collect data on everything we citizens do in the name of security is asinine. Perhaps we can discuss the data collection once the huge security holes are closed. On the other hand, you might find that once the big holes are closed, the need to monitor every everyone's emails and now online gaming is not actually needed at all.

I suspect that the feds are ignoring the border and other avenues for terrorists to infiltrate the US precisely to provide cover for the building of the totalitarian state they so desire.

I think they record everything, then data mine on key wordss.

Some think that allowing such investigation is too much of an imposition on our civil liberties, and I sympathize with that POV. They should just be aware that if this work is not done, then we give up much of our right to complain when the next 9/11, possibly a nuclear version, occurs.

This argument asserts that the government should be allowed to carry out an agenda any way they like, or else pick up their marbles, go home, and leave the work undone. By this reasoning, if you object to Obamacare then you have no right to complain if the government shuts down its disease-tracking programs and allows new plagues to spread unchecked.