I doubt I’m the only cynic out there, but I find the whole 50 terrorist plots foiled in 20 countries headline and the release by the NSA of said data a little too convenient and suspect. Amazing, how to protect themselves from Snowden’s allegations, they are now coming out with this data. I suppose to explain how it’s excusable to monitor everything you and I say and do. I’m not excusing Snowden’s leaks, that isn’t right either. There were different avenues he could have chosen to come forward with his information, though what was he doing with this information in the first place? Just one more inconsistency in this NSA and administration of scandal and missteps, it seems.
I’ve been trying to stay away from taking a written stand on all the political scandals and furor out there……..believe me I see and hear it all ad nauseum, my husband loves FOX news, but that’s enough tangential association I wanted to have until today. I air my opinion to friends who want to listen, but don’t really want to expound on my apolitical blog.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t resist nor keep my fingers still after hearing the Talk Jocks talking about the Metadata release this morning.
Isn’t it unfortunate for the administration and the NSA that the thwarted cases of terrorism might not be able to be proved or disproved? It’s also unfortunate for the public….we’re all a little “gun shy” (or shouldn’t I use that un-PC saying) after the many scandals currently swirling around this administration and it’s Ad hoc depts. of power that we’re a little suspect knowing everything we do and say is now being “monitored”? If you notice, the IRS scandal seems to have legs, even if the media isn’t covering it well, both sides of the aisle can’t agree to disagree on any of the scandals, and the pundits and politicians from both sides are divided apart from party, that to me makes them seem to have some validity no matter how much people want to deny them. When you have politicians jumping parties, there might be real trouble brewing in an administration rife with problems and perhaps truth to rumors of scandal.
What is also unfortunate is that though there were 50 plots “supposedly” foiled, the Boston bombing and the Zazi case weren’t two of them. I don’t know if I believe anything these politicians and NSA guys say. They have lost all credibility in my eyes after lying and obfuscating to us, we the people.
I do know that terrorism is alive and well, but let’s call it what it is, not a “War on Terror” but I do not want to give up my Fourth Amendment rights for safety. There must be a better way than infringing so blatantly on the citizens’ basic civil rights of this great country.
What do you think?
© Evelyn Garone 6/18/13
The Oracle Of Ahwatukee . . . 
Been working so much that I haven’t caught the NSA thing in full yet, but there is and always has been something disturbing about the idea that anyone should have access to our entire lives, which is really what the core issue seems to be. How can you anyone be trusted with such a thing?
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EXACTLY!
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All wiretapping of American citizens by the National Security Agency requires a warrant from a three-judge court set up under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act . After the 9/11 attacks, Congress passed the Patriot Act , which granted the President broad powers to fight a war against terrorism. The George W. Bush administration used these powers to bypass the FISA court and directed the NSA to spy directly on al Qaeda in a new NSA electronic surveillance program . Reports at the time indicate that an “apparently accidental” “glitch” resulted in the interception of communications that were purely domestic in nature.
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Yeah, okaaaaaaaaay! Evie
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