NSA Senate oversight bill may handcuff U.S. companies

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57592778-38/nsa-senate-oversight-bill-may-handcuff-u.s-companies/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

by Libertatea • 13 years ago

5 2 13 years ago

news.cnet.com

kimlelly• 13 years ago

And I thought it couldn't get any better... It's as if they were hellbent on destroying the US economy.

gnosis• 13 years ago

The bill in question was drafted not by some fire breathing, bible thumping, tough on crime, law and order conservative; but by Patrick Leahy, who is considered to be one of the most liberal or progressive of Senators.

If even the most progressive members of Congress are openly advocating a decrease in government accountability and trying to weaken the powers of citizen opposition to a totalitarian surveillance state, then any hope that Congress will try to stop the slide towards totalitarianism is misplaced.

The Executive branch is obviously leading the charge in favor of totalitarianism, and the Judicial branch has mostly condoned or defended increased government power at the expense of human rights and civil liberties, with a few notable slaps on the wrist here and there. Mostly, however, the Supreme Court has tended to simply deny lawsuits seeking to challenge torture, infinite imprisonment, spying, and war (or to just say the plaintifs don't have standing to sue in the first place).

So the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches are lost. They are not likely to change for the better any time soon. If anything, there will likely be a move towards even more extreme concentrations of power and abuses of human rights and an increase in surveillance as the Republicans take back Congress and the Presidency -- especially if there's another major terrorist attack.

What can be done?

NSA Senate oversight bill may handcuff U.S. companies

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