President Obama is unbelievably blasé about the NSA surveillance that he's authorized. He said he has "no problem" with what they're doing.
First of all, he claims that it's "transparent" when, in fact, the American public knew absolutely nothing about it until Edward Snowden blew the whistle and told Glenn Greenwald.
Second, Obama says that the "NSA is not listening to your phone calls or targeting your emails unless it's getting an individualized court order." But Representative Jerrod Nadler of New York last week said that he was told in a secret briefing that an NSA analyst could actually go ahead and listen to your phone call without getting an individualized court order.
And third, Obama said there are plenty of layers of "checks and balances" built into the system.
But those checks are fraudulent, and the balances are tilted.
On some of these programs, only a couple members of the Intelligence Committees are informed, not the whole Congress. And the President then tries to gag every member of Congress from notifying the public about what they learn.
As for the judiciary, Obama said the FISA court has to sign off on everything.
But he had no good answer for Charlie Rose, who pointed out that this court essentially serves as a rubberstamp.
For a man who promised to restore our civil liberties when he ran for president the first time, Obama has proven once again that where you stand depends on where you sit.
If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story Sanders Introduces Bill to Curb Domestic Spying.
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