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Is this how you'd sabotage it, or embolden it? "Thanks to this surveillance, we stoped Russia from infiltrating the highest ranks of our government. See how nec

Is this how you'd sabotage it, or embolden it? "Thanks to this surveillance, we stoped Russia from infiltrating the highest ranks of our government. See how necessary it is?" After all, it was the Cold War and the threat of Russia that started this whole surveillance stuff in the first place.

grandalf 10y ago
Good point. That could certainly be the desired goal, which is why it's frustrating that the media is running with the rumor stories without making the lack of substantiating detail more of an issue. There should be a lot of pressure for the leaker to back up the rumor, since the stakes are fairly high.
ghostDancer 10y ago
Instigate fear and people will surrender their rights. Add a pinch of patriotism and a flag and no one will dare to open his mouth. Exactly the same as they are doing in Turkey and they way they play in every dictatorship.
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  With the slight difference that in America, the wannabe dictator is the one being targeted by the deep state. I think the lesson here is that an effective authoritarian deep-state requires cooperation between the authoritarian civil service and the authoritarian political leadership. Frankly, if they mutually self-destruct, I'll be happy. I want neither an authoritarian political leadership nor an authoritarian surveillance state hidden in the civil service.
  - ghostDancer 10y ago
    I don't like conspiracies but i always thought that he is just the puppet put there by part of the party, and then get rid of him and look like the saviors of USA and in the way clean the deep state of his enemies or at least from the ones that they don't like or submit .
  - marcosdumay 10y ago
    > the wannabe dictator is the one being targeted by the deep state Who is targeting the attack, and why it's finely targeted? It seems naive to postulate a single wannabe dictator when you can't know the details. On that kind of fight there's always the risk that a shadier player wins.
  - enraged_camel 10y ago
    >>With the slight difference that in America, the wannabe dictator is the one being targeted by the deep state. That's not a difference. It started out that way in Turkey as well when Erdogan came to power. He eventually crushed the deep state in a series of maneuvers that purged the "dissidents" inside the intelligence agencies, the judiciary and the military. The exact same thing will happen in America as well unless the practices of the current administration are nipped in the bud quickly.

grandalf 10y ago

Good point. That could certainly be the desired goal, which is why it's frustrating that the media is running with the rumor stories without making the lack of substantiating detail more of an issue. There should be a lot of pressure for the leaker to back up the rumor, since the stakes are fairly high.

ghostDancer 10y ago

Instigate fear and people will surrender their rights. Add a pinch of patriotism and a flag and no one will dare to open his mouth. Exactly the same as they are doing in Turkey and they way they play in every dictatorship.

eli_gottlieb 10y ago
With the slight difference that in America, the wannabe dictator is the one being targeted by the deep state. I think the lesson here is that an effective authoritarian deep-state requires cooperation between the authoritarian civil service and the authoritarian political leadership. Frankly, if they mutually self-destruct, I'll be happy. I want neither an authoritarian political leadership nor an authoritarian surveillance state hidden in the civil service.
- ghostDancer 10y ago
  I don't like conspiracies but i always thought that he is just the puppet put there by part of the party, and then get rid of him and look like the saviors of USA and in the way clean the deep state of his enemies or at least from the ones that they don't like or submit .
- marcosdumay 10y ago
  > the wannabe dictator is the one being targeted by the deep state Who is targeting the attack, and why it's finely targeted? It seems naive to postulate a single wannabe dictator when you can't know the details. On that kind of fight there's always the risk that a shadier player wins.
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  >>With the slight difference that in America, the wannabe dictator is the one being targeted by the deep state. That's not a difference. It started out that way in Turkey as well when Erdogan came to power. He eventually crushed the deep state in a series of maneuvers that purged the "dissidents" inside the intelligence agencies, the judiciary and the military. The exact same thing will happen in America as well unless the practices of the current administration are nipped in the bud quickly.