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These Whistleblowers Think the NSA is Blackmailing Obama and Congress

13 points by electic 13y ago

junto 13y ago
Someone needs to ask Obama why he both backed and co-signed bills that would curb the power of the NSA before he became president, only to completely change his tune afterwards. I've said it before, but I also believe that the NSA now has the power to make sure that presidents toe the line. The question everyone needs to ask themselves is; who's line are they toeing? Who's the piper? Who is the power behind the throne? It might just be conspiracy theory, but the problem is the NSA now genuinely have the capability to do this. Even if they aren't, how would we know if somebody rogue came in to head up the NSA; an American Joseph Goebbels for example. We wouldn't even know, because all of those secret courts and secret policies would hide the reality from the public until it was too late. I just hope that we aren't too late already.
w_t_payne 13y ago
I sure hope not .... but I have no way of knowing. Which is a problem.
spodek 13y ago
The NSA already believes its actions protect national security. It follows its stability protects national interest. Keeping tabs on people who control its budget and accountability keeps it stable. They have means, motive, and opportunity to collect evidence to compromise government decision-makers. The only reason I could imagine them not acting on it would be accountability, which almost no one who could hold them accountable is exerting. At least not yet.
memracom 13y ago
Effectively, these people are saying that the U.S. government has been overthrown in a coup and that the plotters were so successful that they have been able to keep it quiet until now. Reminds me of something Putin said in an interview with foreign press back in 2003 or 2004. He said that nobody has clean hands, not even himself. But you have to move forward. What the USA needs now is a politician with the courage of Putin, to admit that there are problems and corruption at the heart of government, but to move ahead anyway. As Putin's example has shown, you can start with unclean hands and nevertheless gain the support of a majority of the electorate. America has to move beyond its Puritan past and stop pretending that those in power are pearly white, or even that they need to give the appearance of being pearly white. That pressure to appear so clean is what opens the door to the corruption that has plagued American politics since the postwar boom of the military industrial complex.

13 points by electic 13y ago

junto 13y ago

Someone needs to ask Obama why he both backed and co-signed bills that would curb the power of the NSA before he became president, only to completely change his tune afterwards. I've said it before, but I also believe that the NSA now has the power to make sure that presidents toe the line. The question everyone needs to ask themselves is; who's line are they toeing? Who's the piper? Who is the power behind the throne? It might just be conspiracy theory, but the problem is the NSA now genuinely have the capability to do this. Even if they aren't, how would we know if somebody rogue came in to head up the NSA; an American Joseph Goebbels for example. We wouldn't even know, because all of those secret courts and secret policies would hide the reality from the public until it was too late. I just hope that we aren't too late already.

w_t_payne 13y ago

I sure hope not .... but I have no way of knowing. Which is a problem.

spodek 13y ago

The NSA already believes its actions protect national security. It follows its stability protects national interest. Keeping tabs on people who control its budget and accountability keeps it stable. They have means, motive, and opportunity to collect evidence to compromise government decision-makers. The only reason I could imagine them not acting on it would be accountability, which almost no one who could hold them accountable is exerting. At least not yet.

memracom 13y ago

Effectively, these people are saying that the U.S. government has been overthrown in a coup and that the plotters were so successful that they have been able to keep it quiet until now. Reminds me of something Putin said in an interview with foreign press back in 2003 or 2004. He said that nobody has clean hands, not even himself. But you have to move forward. What the USA needs now is a politician with the courage of Putin, to admit that there are problems and corruption at the heart of government, but to move ahead anyway. As Putin's example has shown, you can start with unclean hands and nevertheless gain the support of a majority of the electorate. America has to move beyond its Puritan past and stop pretending that those in power are pearly white, or even that they need to give the appearance of being pearly white. That pressure to appear so clean is what opens the door to the corruption that has plagued American politics since the postwar boom of the military industrial complex.