Comments on: Spy agencies call for broader surveillance laws

Intelligence officials say controversial changes are needed to track moving terrorist targets in an Internet age, and Republicans agree.

[mgreere]

How about we stop creating terrorists instead?

Throwing our weight around in the Middle East is what pisses
people off, right?

If we hadn't abandoned Afaganistan after we trained them to
fight the Russians, would we be such a target of al Qaeda?

If we hadn't deposed Saddam, would all of the insurgents have
come out of the woodwork and organized a massive campaign
to kill our troops and opposing sects?

Look at the history of the Middle East... just in the last century...
Western powers and Isreal have been controlling the status of
countries and people across the entire region for lifetimes.

If Britain came here periodically and reconfigured our
boundaries and poltical system as they saw fit, we'd be mad as
hell too.

The targeted hatred of the US and Israel comes from our actions.
Using them for our momentary stability, occupying their land, or
not giving a crap when they die. (~14,000 civilians dead in Iraq
in the past months? I know I don't really care about them, and
no one else seems to.)

I hope a Palestinian state with respected borders is set up, Iran
is gutted, and Iraq and Afganistan are stabilized... and then we
get the F out. Or we could get out sooner than later... But those
crazy wackos can't handle their own affairs, right?

Our arrogance creates "terrorists." And killing them just makes
more.

Remember, they feel JUSTIFIED in conducting killing civilians.
They feel oppressed and it resonates in their community
because there's some truth behind it. That apparent insanity
doesn't just pop into their heads. They're humans with brains.
To them, it's reasonable. Let's make it unreasonable.

[waterspider]

CLEAN THE SCUM OUT OF THE WHITEHOUSE

Clean the damn scum out of the whitehouse and terrorism will disappear.
Leave the scum in the whitehouse and terrorism will EXPLODE all over the planet in the dumbest world war ever.
We don't need more laws, we need less lawbreakers.
And the most heinous lawbreaking, murdering thieving lying monsters are housed in Washington DC wasting your tax dollars on bombing brown people who never in their life attacked the USA.
This is idiocy and completley what we deserve for embracing the culture of instant gratification at any cost to human life.
We have two generations of apathetic slouchers -perfect prey for a fascist military junta.
How about we restore democratic elections in this occupied terrrorist fascist state?
That would be a good start.
We dont need any more big brother laws becaus big brother is currently a felon molester.

[hard2beat]

Feel Better?,...

There now,... don't you feel better now? It made me feel better just reading it! Bush-Cheney are impeachable lawbreakers. So says the American Bar Association, and so say I. I'm scared,...

[amigabill]

eroding trust

>Hayden admitted that the NSA "routinely" deals with
>information "to, from or about U.S. persons" while
>doing foreign surveillance but "knows how to do
>this while protecting U.S. privacy."

OK, they claim to know how. Let's hope they actually _do_ what they _know how to do_. I think the rason we see so much of this kind of news story today is that the people have lost trust in these guys, we no longer believe they are making use of their privacy skills, even if those skills do exist.

A large enough portion of our population is uncomfortable enough with current goings on that it's a big deal in the news. Then we see these same agencies asking for more power and less oversight is just reducing the trust in them even more.

It just feels like a matter of time before we all have cameras and microphones in every house, perhaps every room of every house, and more and more people are becoming uncomfortable with it all as we gradually creep along toward that distant goal.

[Jackson Cracker]

just another amnesty

>grant current practices more legitimacy

In other words, their current practices are illegal, so rather
than prosecute the lawbreakers they want to erase the law.

[GeekRex]

And Who Watches the Spy Agencies??

One thing the Republicans and their goons now entrenched in the IC never want to discuss is who is going to keep tabs on the spy agencies? As someone who has worked in the IC and knows what its technical capabilities truly are, having the capabilities of these agencies brought to bear on ordinary citizens is simply unimaginable!! If I found out that these groups were monitoring my lawful actions, such as exercising my 1st Amendment right to free speech, I would personally back track them and hold them personally, and ultimately, responsible. Just following orders is NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE.

[rockygabriel]

GRAB THE PITCHFORKS

Listen Up Fellow Americans,

Its time to sharpen the pitchforks and show up at the whitehouse and remind these fascists who is boss.

Thanks For Listening

PS War On Terror Is BS To Keep People Scared

[rockygabriel]

Get The Pitchforks Ready

And lets meet at the whitehouse.

The pointy farm implements will help those fear mongering, war mongering fascists remember who the real boss is.

US, All of US.

Thanks for listening.

PS The War On Terror Is A Fraud

[zanzzz]

Give Them an Inch They Take your freedom

It used to be understood that in a democracy certain functions of the government were not going to be as efficient or even possible compared to other more extreme forms of governing. Of course vast warrantless fishing expeditions through all data streams is tempting to government agencies prosecuting a war. The price of democracy and freedom is having a government with one hand tied behind it's back. No torture, warrantless searches, and violation of other laws is permissible just because it's deemed expedient at a given moment against a given threat. That is a true test of a democracy. If you concede principles when pressured then you never really held them to be truly important. Needless to say the current administration has failed to live up to these ideals.
This country has faced much greater threats in the past and has not always lived up to it's principles. I think many of the past threats to this country were far more grave than any current problems yet we are told that drastic changes to laws need to be made now. In the past a war was against a nation state or part thereof. Now we have a diffuse, ill-defined, shadowy "enemy" with a "war" against a concept- not unlike the "war" on drugs or poverty. This type of war can never be won because we are really fighting CRIME! Criminals are the target and we all know that crime will never be wiped out completely. There can be no mission accomplished here. BUT we will be left with a violated constitution and less freedom if Bush gets what he wants. Because the "war on terror" will never effectively end neither will the enchroachments on liberty they desperately crave now.
Where are the "Profiles In Courage" in the Republican Party now? The self-serving spineless weasles are certainly not true "conservatives" in the former meaning that word held. Now "conservative" means conserving energy for collecting money for reelection. No energy wasted standing up against threats to this country from within. Don't risk your position at the feeding trough by trying to conserve the principles this country was founded on and for. By all means wrap your self in the flag and spout "support our troops" and "9/11" at all opportunites. Then go vote yourself another raise, you deserve it! After all that hard work on important issues like amending the Constitution to prevent flag burning and gay marriage. What a disgrace!

[CryptoUser]

Our Rights our Freedoms

It seams like ever day on the news you hear about another one of our laws in place to protect us, get shot down the drain. I know we need to watch out for terrorists and I'm all for that but our rights and freedoms are also going down the drain. Now don?t get me wrong I'm all for the USA there?s nothing that I love more but God, and I will stand and fight for her, but I'm getting scared of my government which is supposed to be here working for US and not impeding on our rights. Sooner or later there?s gona be an uprising against our Gov. Hopefully they will see that and be more lenient on our rights

Just a thought!

God Bless the United States of America

CU

[heystoopid]

nothing new here!

Nothing new here!

Just the old ends justifies the means, and the means justifies the ends axiom!