4 ms·

Thanks for sharing. The 6 year difference is huge, it's almost like there are two completely different persons talking.

by tommi 13y ago

keithwarren 13y ago
I can only imagine that what he saw when the curtain got pulled back and he started receiving the PDB shocked him to the core. This is a pretty radical swing on a fundamental issue, there has to be a root cause for the change.
- threeseed 13y ago
  Well the NSA head did say that dozens of terrorist acts had been thwarted with the help of the phone records. Which could means that there are potentially hundreds/thousands of active terrorist investigations. Given that any one could be the next Boston Marathon, 9/11 or perhaps on an even bigger scale like polluting water sources or dirty bombs using material from poorly secured Pakistan/Russian nuclear sites. If you were receiving daily updates outlining the creative and more sinister ways terrorists were planning attacks perhaps you might come to the conclusion that the US is out of its depth and needs every tool at its disposal.
  - adventured 13y ago
    The NSA's claims are laughable. These clowns couldn't catch the bumbling Boston bombers, who were about as unprofessional as terrorists get. And there was no shortage of arrows pointing to them.
    - GhotiFish 13y ago
      good luck finding those glowing red neon signs when they're floating somewhere in the middle of the ocean. We generate quiet a bit of data, us humans.
  - fokov 13y ago
    > dozens of terrorist acts Which ones were real or could have actually pulled anything off? The underwear bomber? The guy that locked his keys in the car? Or the ones the FBI convinces others to attempt? The NSA has been doing this for a long time and have missed things like the Boston bombing while there was plenty of evidence that required further observance. Just looking at some of his public photos, it was apparent to me that he probably should be observed. Those didn't even require these new legal means. Don't you think if they did successfully stop a really major terrorist attack either Bush or Obama would have ran with it in the open? If it happened in 2008, Obama probably wouldn't have been elected because people would have loved to see these new [horrible] laws stop 9/11 part 2. Bush would have said something like "We told you we needed this and we were right. Without these laws we wouldn't have been able to catch them. These laws saved thousands of lives today and will continue to do so in the future." However, here we are and nothing major has been found. Now they have the potential for political blackmail that can stop all sorts of challenges to the establishment. One thing many people agree is that Congress sucks and both parties are out of touch with us. They will use these legal means in order to hold onto their power. I do not trust them in the least. Also, if they can do this, why can't we attach live camera and microphones to all of them? Why can't we make all of their emails public? They want this access to us, why can't we have it for them?
- tibbon 13y ago
  From what I understand, once you're at a certain level as a presidential candidate (and already a senator, governor or representative you get some of this anyway) then you're given some of the briefings on this stuff. It isn't that they just learn everything day-1 when they get in the oval office.
- adventured 13y ago
  There's definitely a root cause: he's in power now. I don't know why people assume he must have seen something shocking to change him, the position of power alone could easily do it. His job is now to defend the powers that the government has acquired. That is what he was elected for, whether people want to believe another fantasy or not. Special interests and insiders own Obama just as they have every modern President. Our system is not run by: Congress + President + Judical. The Pentagon, US military, DOJ, NSA, IRS, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, Federal Reserve etc are all directly involved in politics.

Thanks for sharing. The 6 year difference is huge, it's almost like there are two completely different persons talking.

by tommi 13y ago

Thanks for sharing. The 6 year difference is huge, it's almost like there are two completely different persons talking.

I can only imagine that what he saw when the curtain got pulled back and he started receiving the PDB shocked him to the core. This is a pretty radical swing on a fundamental issue, there has to be a root cause for the change.

threeseed 13y ago
Well the NSA head did say that dozens of terrorist acts had been thwarted with the help of the phone records. Which could means that there are potentially hundreds/thousands of active terrorist investigations. Given that any one could be the next Boston Marathon, 9/11 or perhaps on an even bigger scale like polluting water sources or dirty bombs using material from poorly secured Pakistan/Russian nuclear sites. If you were receiving daily updates outlining the creative and more sinister ways terrorists were planning attacks perhaps you might come to the conclusion that the US is out of its depth and needs every tool at its disposal.
- adventured 13y ago
  The NSA's claims are laughable. These clowns couldn't catch the bumbling Boston bombers, who were about as unprofessional as terrorists get. And there was no shortage of arrows pointing to them.
  - GhotiFish 13y ago
    good luck finding those glowing red neon signs when they're floating somewhere in the middle of the ocean. We generate quiet a bit of data, us humans.
- fokov 13y ago
  > dozens of terrorist acts Which ones were real or could have actually pulled anything off? The underwear bomber? The guy that locked his keys in the car? Or the ones the FBI convinces others to attempt? The NSA has been doing this for a long time and have missed things like the Boston bombing while there was plenty of evidence that required further observance. Just looking at some of his public photos, it was apparent to me that he probably should be observed. Those didn't even require these new legal means. Don't you think if they did successfully stop a really major terrorist attack either Bush or Obama would have ran with it in the open? If it happened in 2008, Obama probably wouldn't have been elected because people would have loved to see these new [horrible] laws stop 9/11 part 2. Bush would have said something like "We told you we needed this and we were right. Without these laws we wouldn't have been able to catch them. These laws saved thousands of lives today and will continue to do so in the future." However, here we are and nothing major has been found. Now they have the potential for political blackmail that can stop all sorts of challenges to the establishment. One thing many people agree is that Congress sucks and both parties are out of touch with us. They will use these legal means in order to hold onto their power. I do not trust them in the least. Also, if they can do this, why can't we attach live camera and microphones to all of them? Why can't we make all of their emails public? They want this access to us, why can't we have it for them?
tibbon 13y ago
From what I understand, once you're at a certain level as a presidential candidate (and already a senator, governor or representative you get some of this anyway) then you're given some of the briefings on this stuff. It isn't that they just learn everything day-1 when they get in the oval office.
adventured 13y ago
There's definitely a root cause: he's in power now. I don't know why people assume he must have seen something shocking to change him, the position of power alone could easily do it. His job is now to defend the powers that the government has acquired. That is what he was elected for, whether people want to believe another fantasy or not. Special interests and insiders own Obama just as they have every modern President. Our system is not run by: Congress + President + Judical. The Pentagon, US military, DOJ, NSA, IRS, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, Federal Reserve etc are all directly involved in politics.