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| President Obama in Hague. |
President Obama is calling on Congress to pass new legislation that would prevent the National Security Agency from collecting and holding vast amounts of data on Americans' phone calls.
The president discussed the plans during a press conference at The Hague in The Netherlands. Previewing his proposal, he claimed it would address concerns about how the bulk data collection could be exploited.
"I'm confident that [the proposal] allows us to do what is necessary in order to deal with the dangers of a terrorist threat but does so in a way that addresses some of the concerns that people have raised," Obama said.
The New York Times first reported late Monday that the administration was expected to propose that Congress overhaul the electronic surveillance program by having phone companies hold onto the call records, according to a government official briefed on the proposal.
The proposal would require that phone companies only keep the records for the 18 months currently required by federal law and allow the government to see certain records when the request is approved by a federal judge. Currently, the government holds onto those phone records for five years so the numbers can be searched for national security purposes.
A senior administration official told Fox News that the president would present "a sound approach to ensuring the government no longer collects or holds this data, but still ensures that the government has access to the information it needs to meet the national security needs his team has identified." The official also said that until the legislation is passed by Congress "the president has directed his administration to renew the current program, as modified substantially by the president in his January speech."
Yeah I know this is Fox but I watched the President say this in his press conference, and of course there is the New York times story, so it is verified.
Of course this is not enough to put every American's fears to rest, but it is certainly a necessary step in the right direction.
Of course leaving it up to Congress to pass legislation on this may be akin to dropping a container of Lego's amidst a pack of wild dogs and asking them to build you a house. And let's ask ourselves, do the Republicans in the House REALLY want to take away some of the NSA's powers?
Hmm, does anybody else smell a potential trap?
Well within hours we're sure to hear the RW call for even MORE NSA surveillance. Palin will be pissed that the President would no longer be able to hear her heavy breathing calls and how the hell will she be able to get his attention without them.
ReplyDeleteYup!
DeleteAnd that's how the Democrats are going to keep the Senate!
Talk about getting outplayed!
Sheesh!
Can't wait to see what Rand Paul, the great "libertarian" has to say. His and his people are probably in a huddle trying to figure out how he can be against this without being against it.
O/T. This is a summary of the points made in an article currently running at Mother Jones. It demolishes many of the assumptions promulgated by Ms Palin 'and her ilk' regarding poverty in 21st Century America. Well worth the time to read the full article and then spread the word around.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/10-poverty-myths-busted
Aurora
Obama: Romney Was Wrong On Russia, Still Is
ReplyDelete...At a press conference at The Hague on Tuesday, Obama echoed this exact point. Asked if Romney had been right all along, he responded:
With respect to Mr. Romney's assertion that Russia is our number one geopolitical foe, the truth of the matter is that America has got a whole lot of challenges. Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors not out of strength but out of weakness. Ukraine has been a country, [over] which Russia had enormous influence for decades, since the breakup of the Soviet Union. We have considerable influence on our neighbors; we generally don't need to invade them in order to have a strong cooperative relationship with them. The fact that Russia felt compelled to go in militarily and lay bare these violations of international law indicates [that they have] less influence, not more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/obama-romney-russia_n_5028810.html
he's a very, very, very bad guy and now it's playing out
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessinsider.com/russia-evading-nsa-and-snowden-2014-3
Snowden "is in possession of literally thousands of documents ... that would allow somebody who read them to know exactly how the NSA does what it does, which would in turn allow them to evade that surveillance or replicate it."
So it's either a crazy coincidence that the Russians figured out how to evade NSA surveillance while hosting the NSA-trained hacker, or else it implies that Snowden provided the Russians with access to the NSA's blueprint.
Darn that President. He's playing chess again, while the GOP is playing Tiddly Winks with Palin, Rumsfeld (who ought to be arrested for treason) and whoever else they can pay a few bucks to lie and screech and fear-monger about the administration. When did ANYONE on the left ever liken Bush to an animal, even when he did act like a jackass half the time? All the cons can do is throw darts, and lie, and throw bigger darts, hoping the poison one will strike home. They sure are keeping HSA busy, and the CIA.
ReplyDeleteThis is really off topic but did anyone catch Todd on the Sportsman Channel tonight? Has Sarah wished her father Happy Birthday yet?
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans have some very good talking points. After it was announced that President Obama was invoking economic sanctions and barring some Russians from entering the US, Kelly Ayotte said that President Obama was leading from weakness, and he should act with strength. The interviewer asked Ayotte what she would do. Ayotte would impose even more sanctions, but should could not name anything specific. You see, they criticize and call the president names, but they have no other suggestions. A majority of the people do not want the US to take any military action in Russia.
ReplyDelete