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The trouble is, how do you effectively oversee an agency that specializes in lies, misdirection, cover-ups, coercion, and blackmail? I also worry that our thre
by BitwiseFool 3y ago
The trouble is, how do you effectively oversee an agency that specializes in lies, misdirection, cover-ups, coercion, and blackmail?
I also worry that our three letter agencies have collected an immense amount of dirt on Millennials and Gen-Zers. It's not hard to imagine blackmailing politicians or releasing dirt on candidates running on a platform to curtail or rein-in such agencies in order to prevent them from getting elected.
- mcpackieh 3y agoIt's known that the FBI was spying on and blackmailing civil rights activists like MLK Jr. They even tried to coerce him into suicide. They were never held accountable for this, so why would they stop? And without anybody to hold them accountable, what would stop them from doing this to elected officials too?
- lazide 3y agoYup, and a lot more - the wider program was COINTELPRO
- mc32 3y agoAnd more recently the Congress[1] and a presidential candidate[2] —that we know of. Much we may not. But even Congress doesn’t have the will to do anything about the apparatus. What chance does the public at large have to have their constitutional rights protected? [1]https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/the-danger-of-nsa-spying-on-members-of-congress/282827/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/the-dan... [2]I'm sure some people will find no problem given an unsympathetic person, but it's still wrong.
- lazide 3y agoCongress is also likely a lot easier to manipulate/control (in a general sense).
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago> our three letter agencies have collected an immense amount of dirt This is something I can't help being reminded of any time there's "breaking news" about a political candidate and some taboo subject, even today. It seems at least naive to believe it never happens. I don't think it's too wrong to say that political candidates today either have very clean histories or "play nice" to some extent with these agencies.
- lazide 3y agoObama was clearly sopping to them, arguably due to their role in tracking down Osama Bin Laden, etc. But the support was extensive, and essentially a blank slate. And not just drone assassinations. Edit: almost forgot - President Bush Sr. who used to be the Director of the CIA!
- ambicapter 3y ago> Obama was clearly sopping to them What does this mean? Feels like a typo but I can't figure out what the intended sentence was.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y agoI don't read a typo. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sop https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sop (second noun definition)
- dylan604 3y agoWhich is also the reason why a lot of the TikTok "but I'd rather CCP have my info than US agencies" is so infuriating. As if China isn't looking for influence with younger up-and-coming politicos. The utter lack of understanding from how much information about you the analysis of just "metadata" is that what can be learned from the actual "data" that data hoarders can collect is just mindblowingly naive to me.
- lazide 3y agoThey’re dismissing it because using TikTok now is fun (or at least interesting) and those other things you’re talking about are not - and they can’t do anything about them anyway.
- dylan604 3y agoThey're dismissing it because they're like a flamingo with their head deliberately in the sand. Critically thinking about things makes their head hurt.
- enterprise_cog 3y agoWhat does China have to do with the evils of the US intelligence community? Why even bring them up? What does potentially seeking influence with people have to do with blackmailing people or other COINTELPRO activities that were used to disrupt civil rights activists?
- dylan604 3y agoi wasn't bringing in China just for the sake of it. if you read enough threads here on HN, you'll see people making comments "i'd rather the CCP have my data than the TLAs of the US, since the CCP has no jurisdiction". it's a strawman privacy argument. invasion of privacy is bad regardless of the "who" is doing it. all of the pervasive tracking that is occurring has so many levels of knock-on effects that just get ignored or overlooked or whatever other term for being allowed is just not a good thing and should be something not allowed.
- 3y ago
- diogenes4 3y ago> The trouble is, how do you effectively oversee an agency that specializes in lies, misdirection, cover-ups, coercion, and blackmail? You destroy them—it's the only way to guarantee accountability.