No doubt about it, Americans and their representatives are mad as hell about the NSA spying and PRISM schemes, the scope of which was revealed for the very first time by former CIA and National Security employee Edward Snowden in early June 2013.
In fact more than 70,000 irate citizens have already signed the newly posted White House petition requesting the young man, now living in exile for fear of retaliation, be fully pardoned for his patriotism. Only 48,000 signatures were actually needed to force the president to have to officially consider the public's demand.
Americans and congressional leaders are also asking Big Brother Obama and his 1984 Orwellian-styled goonsquad snoops other hard questions too.
All in hopes of extracting from these notoriously 'evasive' players the truth about how extensive their secret and unlawful sweep of citizens' phone records, e-mails, and internet use really is.
All in hopes of extracting from these notoriously 'evasive' players the truth about how extensive their secret and unlawful sweep of citizens' phone records, e-mails, and internet use really is.
Here are the most frequently asked questions, and what we know so far:
1. When did the NSA spying begin? It was implemented by George W. Bush supposedly in response to the attack on the World Trade Centers, which so far no terrorist group has technically claimed responsibility for. However, it's become a cross party operation that both Democrats and Republicans have endorsed since its inception.
2. I'm not a criminal or terrorist so are my e-mails, telephone calls and IP address being monitored by the government as well? Yes, regardless if you're a law abiding citizen or even who you voted for in the last election, all your data is being mined by NSA and PRISM daily, including your digital photos, medical records and love letters. Tech companies like Verizon have cooperated in the massive spy conspiracy and other firms their size have been named as well.
3. This doesn't seem legal -- is it? No, the Constitution of the United States expressly forbids the government from warrantless searches of any citizen or their habitats and personal effects, even if suspected or convicted of unlawful activities. These special privacy protections, in existence since the 1780s, are why NSA's shadowy spy program was kept so secret, even from a majority of congressional leaders.
4. I don't want to be watched, recorded or filmed without my knowledge -- is anything being done to bring the culprits behind these violations to justice and to halt the illegal spying? Yes, the ACLU has recently filed a lawsuit and there are now some class action suits initiated against Obama and various members of his administration too. Additionally, prior unsuccessful lawsuits by private citizens and businesses who sought redress for NSA illegally targeting them, but who lost because the defendant/s perjured themselves in court proceedings, are also being resuscitated.
5. Has a president ever engaged in this level of wrongdoing before and, if so, what was done to him? In the 1970s, president Richard M. Nixon was found guilty of wiretapping many of his *enemies*, stealing documents, and other related criminality which earned him the nickname 'Tricky Dick'. As a result of whistleblowers, Nixon was ultimately forced to resign office in disgrace following a successful vote to impeach him. Several high ranking members of Tricky Dick's administration also served time in jail for acting as his accomplices, lying in judicial proceeding and inquests, and engaging in a massive cover up that included destruction of evidence.
6. I'm all for being protected from terrorists but has all this snooping really made me any safer? No, the accused Boston Bomber brothers, for example, are said to not have been spied on at all. That means they're either completely innocent of the charges and/or that the spy programs in question are directed solely at natural born citizens.
7. What really are the odds of my becoming a victim of terrorism on American soil anyway? Statistically, the chances are quite slim. Data collected and analyzed since well before 9/11 to the present clearly shows that you are just as likely to die from a television landing on your head as at the hands of a terrorist. And, just to put it in perspective, deaths caused by falling TV sets are such uncommon occurrences that they're classified 'freak accidents'.
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E.R.
If it only went as far as they say . I have family that works for government. I was sprayed with agent orange by government and listened to denials for many,many years that they never used it at fort drum. I have no reason to believe what the government says.
ReplyDeleteTo quote my favorite human than ever existed "They government does not care about you, THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU! They do not care about your rights, they do not care about your welfare, they do not care about you" In his intensely passionate voice. -George Carlin- Tennesse, I am a nurse, and I've got a couple guys getting denied for the agent orange thing. I've seen agent orange in Vietnam vets, and I agree with you,and a few of my patients...they were exposed to agent orange. As I said,I have seen what it does. Get this...I have been a nurse with the same company for 10 plus years...Last week,we get this email,that we have to have level 2 fingerprints taken? I get there,it's this scientology looking machine,we had to put our fingers under this infared light,each time,our photo was taken? It was so weird. One of my fellow nurses is calling the ACLU. Tennesse,what do you think that was all about? I know when you move from state to state as a nurse,you have to get finger printed the old school way,but what was this about? As a nurse,my eyes were opened in 2010 that the government didn't care,than that led me to researching more lies...gosh,Ignorance really can be bliss sometimes. I was a much calmer person before I realized all the lies,but,I hate my intelligence being insulted. Tennesee..if I may,and if you are able to answer....your family that works for the government...are they disillusioned? I ask my guys,my patients these questions all the time...Julie
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