Comments on: Appeals court dismisses suit against NSA spy program

Bush administration praises ruling, but Supreme Court appeal may be in future for plaintiffs who say they were illegally monitored.

[ewelch]

Ridiculous

My father was a counter-espionage agent for the OSS. So I know
the importance of secrecy, but the NSA has gone too far. The lower
court was right, these appeals judges are in the pocket of the
administration, or they'd see what's wrong with it.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in an American
flag." - Sen. Huey Long

[beubanks7507]

Really.......

Huey Long was called the King Fish for a reason. That is a bad
quote for your argument.

While I do have questions about the legality of the program in
question it should be noted that:

1). The Judges in this case were not wrong. You have to have a
reason to bring a suit. Call it a civil tort if you want but, it
doesn't make them wrong.

2). Even though american citizens are protected from warrant-
less wire taps (with this often being extended to resident aliens),
foreign citizens are not. Under that, this is probably not illegal if
it is limited to over seas communications.

Also, in reality, the NSA knows who they are looking for. They
know who is overseas scheming and plotting. If you call one of
those people, then your right to privacy is fore fit anyway (think
how easy it would be to get a warrant if you call a known
terrorist). For everybody else, they don't really have the time to
care and could probably care less.

I know that this is more of a principle matter but, we all need to
come back to reality.

As a comment on the article and in general:
I would like to see c-net bring in more people from the other
side of the issue. They did not really interview or get statements
from anybody with opposing opinions. This is essentially yellow
journalism. If you want to be a respected news organization,
you have to give both sides of an issue, even if one side is
unpopular. Remember, it is the popular sides that set up
dictatorships, not the unpopular ones usually.

[beubanks7507]

Addendum

Wikipedia page on Huey Long for those of you who are sure who he
is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long

Here is the wikipedia page for the NSA wiretapping:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_wiretapping

[qwerty75]

The road to hell...

nt

[Stating]

Vacuuming Up Data

The reality is that anyone and everyone is subject to priviliged communications monitoring by systems such as ECHELON at Menwith Hill Station in the U.K. Governments bypass domestic monitoring laws by setting up reciprocal arrangements with other governments. For example, the U.S. monitors its citizens' communications from the U.K., and the U.K. monitors its citizens communications from the U.S. By doing this, no domestic surveillance laws are broken. A byproduct of civilian surveillance is the ability to intercept and exploit information related to commerce, such as manufacturing trade secrets, and intra-governmental communcations, a concern recently raised by the French regarding their employees' use of Blackberry devices. It is naive to think that a few simplistic domestic lawsuits will have any impact at all on the decades long massive military-industrial espionage complex. There are trillions of dollars worth of investments in these systems. It is the ultimate high-stakes poker game.

[dayebreak]

Fractured Court

The opinion reads as if all three judges had an end result in mind. It's not likely the current version of the Supreme Court will grant cert. if filed. However, if the ruling had upheld the lower court decision, the Supreme Court would have granted cert. It's sad but true that the Supreme Court will consistently deny addressing an issue brought to them by an individual, yet the same issue brought to them by the government due to an adverse appellate decision will be granted.
Which is why the Feds hate the Ninth Circuit.

[suyts]

Say what you will

about the wire tapping and the administration, but the fact is there has been no repeats of 9/11, so far. If it is only foreign conversations, then I say go for it.

[ralfthedog]

Giving up our freedoms just for a bit of safety is not a bargain.

If we must shred the Constitution to keep some silly little fanatics from killing a few people, we are better of with the fanatics.

Look at the number of people killed in 9/11, then look at the number of people who are killed by drunk drivers, cigarettes (First and second hand smoke), and such.

I was very near the Oklahoma City bombing. Friends of the family were killed. They gave there lives to protect and defend the Constitution.

If we fear the terrorists, or give up our freedoms to protect ourselves from them, they have won. Fear is the true enemy.