Senator Wyden: Public Has Been Actively Mislead By Government Officials Over Surveillance

[Catherina]

Senator Wyden: Public Has Been Actively Mislead By Government Officials Over Surveillance

from the indeed dept

While some Senators are insisting that we need to keep going with NSA surveillance and just trust them that the NSA and FBI aren't abusing the law and the information they have access to, others are pointing out that it's a lot of hogwash. Senator Ron Wyden, who has been leading the charge against these programs for years (and was mostly ignored for that effort), gave a great speech describing how defenders of the program are directly choosing to mislead the American public. A key point, though it comes late in the speech, is the following:

The public was not just kept in the dark about the Patriot Act and other secret authorities. The public was actively misled.

Most of the speech is detailing exactly how that happened, and the distortions defenders of the program try to tell the American people and why they're wrong. We'll highlight a few, but reading or watching the whole speech is worthwhile.

He notes that he warned, quite specifically (and publicly) that when the American public found out how the laws were being interpreted, they would be surprised. That, clearly, proved accurate:

When the Patriot Act was last reauthorized, I stood on the floor of the United States Senate and said “I want to deliver a warning this afternoon. When the American people find out how their government has interpreted the Patriot Act, they are going to be stunned and they are going to be angry.” From my position on the Senate Intelligence Committee, I had seen government activities conducted under the umbrella of the Patriot Act that I knew would astonish most Americans.

Furthermore, he points out that officials chose to directly mislead the American public.

If that is not enough to give you pause, then consider that not only were the existence of and the legal justification for these programs kept completely secret from the American people, senior officials from across the government were making statements to the public about domestic surveillance that were clearly misleading and at times simply false

...

READ MORE: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130723/13325623909/senator-wyden-public-has-been-actively-mislead-government-officials-over-surveillance.shtml

[forestpath]

1. K&R

[msongs]

2. thanks senator wyden for standing up against the president and his spying agenda nt

[woo me with science]

3. "Misled" = LIED TO.

We are lied to incessantly.

[last1standing]

4. Damned Greenwald Leftist!

How dare he tell the public that it's government is lying to them! It'll be his fault if we lose the next election (certainly not the fault of those lying to us).

[Catherina]

6. What kind of lowlives are calling Wyden a Greenwald Leftist?

WTF kind of a slur is "Greenwald Leftist" anyway? It sounds like something straight out of Cheney's vile mouth.

[sabrina 1]

11. Lol, true. What kind of lowlifes would think it was an insult to begin with, to be compared with

people like Wyden, Greenwald who has not changed one iota on these issues since the Bush years. like I have said many times, they need to hire better script writers. The Third Way clearly knows nothing about the Left otherwise we would not be seeing these inane, and to be honest, almost funny attempts to insult the Left.

If I had no principles I would almost be tempted to apply for the job, just to teach them how, if they really want to insult the Left, they need to know something about the subject.

Signed,

Proud Greenwald Leftist

[rhett o rick]

27. Those that are so quick to throw people like Sen Wyden under the bus are getting desperate.

I continually ask them, if they dont stand with the left, what are their stances. They never will respond. So I conclude that they are either conservative Democrats that secretly follow the Republican ideology or they are living in a carefully crafted denial bubble.

[MNBrewer]

41. I keep asking one defender of the Administration's spying efforts as being "legal"

how he feels about the classified interpretations of public law that are being used to govern us. He never responds.

[TBF]

43. I conclude that they might be hired by others as well -

the republican party has a lot of $$$ - I wouldn't be at all surprised if we have disrupters here who are being paid to attack progressives. Some of the posters who most doggedly attack progressives are on here an awful lot and put an amazing amount of effort into their posts. It makes one wonder if they are being paid for those efforts ...

[HumansAndResources]

58. The "They" aren't "The Republicans", they just "Run the Republicans"

It is a question of separating the "tool" from those that wield it - and the "useful idiots" who get sucked up into it.

Transnational Corporatism does not have an actual "ideology" - only an "agenda." If they need to back so-called "socialism," as defined by their right-wing mouthpieces (versus the real thing, ala "Venezuela&quot , to put another brick in the wall (bar in the cage), they will. See Goldman Sach's campaign donations. Left-Cover can get a lot of things "under the radar" that would bring riots if a Republican did them.

The sooner we get the corporatists out of the Democratic Party, the sooner we can restore our civil liberties, so that we can use those to restore all the other rights and the standard of living we have lost to the Global-Corporatists.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12. His post sounds like sarcasm. I don't think that he meant for his words to be taken seriously.

[Catherina]

19. I got his sarcasm but what bat cave is that coming from all of a sudden? It's all over the place lol

I'm with Mojorabbit, proud to be one and stand by Greenwald.

[Mojorabbit]

16. I take it as a compliment. I am proud to be a Greewald Leftist. nt

[99Forever]

5. K&R

[midnight]

7. K&R

For years, senior Justice Department officials have told Congress and the public that the Patriot Act’s business record authority which is the authority that is used to collect the phone records of millions of ordinary Americans is “analogous to a grand jury subpoena.” This statement is exceptionally misleading it strains the word “analogous” well beyond the breaking point.

[Arctic Dave]

8. K&R

I think the truth will come out that our "good guys" are a gang of shitbag thugs.

[99th_Monkey]

9. Woot! That's MY US Senator. K & R So happy I voted for him ~nt

[JEB]

49. He's my senator as well.

I'd have to say he has earned my vote again come re-election time.

[MotherPetrie]

10. K&R

[DeSwiss]

13. So what he's saying is......

...that the Patriot Act is unpatriotic? This calls for the: INFINITE FACEPALM!!!



- K&R

[Mnemosyne]

14. K&R nt

[JDPriestly]

15. Brilliant speech! I agree with Wyden wholeheartedly!

Thanks, Catherina for bringing this to our attention. This is really important.

[chimpymustgo]

17. They're spying and lying. K&R for truth and light. nt

[Douglas Carpenter]

18. Fuck Ron Paul and all his Paulite trolls in Congress and everywhere else!!

[Catherina]

20. Dianne Feinstein... "terrorist attacks against our nation, reviewed and authorized, strict controls"

Although bipartisan support makes the passage of the limitations possible in the House, the chances of their making it through the Senate are slim. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and ranking committee member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., defended the surveillance program and encouraged legislators to continue its funding.

“The (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) business records program has contributed to disrupting numerous terrorist attacks against our nation,” they said in a statement. “It has been reviewed and authorized by all three branches of government and is subject to strict controls.”

...

In his remarks, Wyden said that oversight had been lacking on the program and that he and fellow Senate Intelligence Committee member Mark Udall, D-Colo., had tried to warn the country of the depth of the government’s surveillance but had been unable to speak plainly because of Senate rules.

It was only after NSA contract employee Edward Snowden leaked a secret court order that required Verizon to turn over to the NSA on a daily basis the records of millions of cellphone users that Wyden was able to speak freely about the program, he said.

“If we do not seize this unique moment in our constitutional history to reform our surveillance laws and practices, we will live to regret it,” he said.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/07/23/197485/sen-wyden-says-he-tried-to-warn.html

She's in no danger of being mistaken for anything other.

[Douglas Carpenter]

22. Ron Wyden is in the Senate just like Rand Paul is in the Senate and he has the same first name as

Ron Paul and they have all criticized the surveillance program. What more proof does anyone need?

[rhett o rick]

25. So are you disparaging Sen Wyden? Are you daring to compare him to the Pauls? nm

[LondonReign2]

29. It's sarcasm, sans the tag

[rhett o rick]

31. I wish people would remember there are those of us (or maybe just me) that are sarcasm impaired.

We have posters right here in DU City that have that attitude.

[MNBrewer]

42. These days it's hard to tell, sometimes.

[hootinholler]

32. You seem to have forgotten the sarcasm smilie

At least I hope you did because I expect better from you.

[Catherina]

33. OMG. Now I get what they're screaming about. Wyden's a Cato-loving libertarian!

[HiPointDem]

21. kr & props to wyden.

[marions ghost]

23. Everybody can see it but only some will speak it

thank you Sen Wyden

[Wilms]

24. ^

[think]

26. k&R

[warrant46]

28. K & R

[ProSense]

30. Senator Wyden also

made it clear the distinctionbetween the domestic program and PRISM.

Even after those disclosures, there has been an effort by officials to exaggerate the effectiveness of the bulk phone records collection program by conflating it with the collection of Internet communications under section 702 of the FISA statute. This collection, which involves the PRISM computer system, has produced some information of real value. I will note that last summer I was able to get the executive branch to declassify the fact that the FISA Court has ruled on at least one occasion that this collection violated the Fourth Amendment in a way that affected an undisclosed number of Americans. And the Court also said that the government has violated the spirit of the law as well. So, I think section 702 clearly needs stronger protections for the privacy of law-abiding Americans, and I think these protections could be added without losing the value of this collection. But I won’t deny that this value exists. Meanwhile, I have not seen any indication that the bulk phone records program yielded any unique intelligence that was not also available to the government through less intrusive means. When government officials refer to these programs collectively, and say that “these programs” provided unique intelligence without pointing out that one program is doing all the work and the other is basically just along for the ride, in my judgment that is also a misleading statement.

Of course, Snowden's distortions and international adventure served to shift the focus to all sorts of misinformation about PRISM, which focuses on foreign targets.

Senator Slams Domestic Spying: ‘Secret Law Has No Place In America’
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023322100

[LondonReign2]

34. I think this is the part you meant to highlight

I will note that last summer I was able to get the executive branch to declassify the fact that the FISA Court has ruled on at least one occasion that this collection violated the Fourth Amendment in a way that affected an undisclosed number of Americans. And the Court also said that the government has violated the spirit of the law as well.

[ProSense]

35. Nope, I

I think this is the part you meant to highlight

I will note that last summer I was able to get the executive branch to declassify the fact that the FISA Court has ruled on at least one occasion that this collection violated the Fourth Amendment in a way that affected an undisclosed number of Americans. And the Court also said that the government has violated the spirit of the law as well.

...highlighted the part meant to show the distinction. The one incident has been covered, as are the actions that occur when that happens.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022984279

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023060180

[LondonReign2]

36. You didn't mean to highlight

the part where the Obama Administration violated the 4th Amendment in fact and in spirit?

[Savannahmann]

39. No

ProSense is one of the leading cheerleaders of the NSA. No sacrifice of Civil Rights is too great in the name of National Security.

[grasswire]

52. what a distinction, eh? nt

[snappyturtle]

55. I guess I've got enough guts in me tonight to say this:

Could you please abstain from the copy paste thing of the post you're replying to? It's annoying. DU has made it quite easy for us to check which post you are responding to.

Frankly,,I can't easily follow what in the heck you're even trying to say in this last post and I know from my past reactions I probably wouldn't agree.....however, I always try to read opposing points of view but you make it so laborious, at the end of a long day, I just can't put forth that much effort.

I realize this has nothing to do with the OP and, rest assured, I'm only offerring my opinion.... not meant to be hurtful or rude, etc.....etc....etc.

[arely staircase]

47. that is an important distinction to make

I personally find the telephone metadata collection to be intrusive and I support efforts to do away with it. The PRISM program seems to be the monitoring of foreign signals intelligence (including e-mail) in an effort to thwart attacks on the US. This seems to be completely legit and within the traditional function of the NSA. It doesn't really bother me. In fact I would say it should be done. Now if there have been abuses or sloppy work that violated US citizens' privacy, we should tighten up the rules but generally speaking, snooping on foreign e-mail that comes through US systems is a legit function of government.

[avaistheone1]

37. Unfortunately many at DU enjoy being mislead.

k&r

[polichick]

38. There are so few left who will speak the truth about who's really in control.

[Douglas Carpenter]

40. knr

[WillyT]

44. HUGE K & R !!!

[frylock]

45. kickeroo

[Vietnameravet]

46. Well if the good senator is a man of principle

I assume he will begin proceedings to impeach Obama...

[tazkcmo]

48. Why does he hate America? n/t

[L0oniX]

50. K & R

[marmar]

51. k/r

[Lugal Zaggesi]

53. When you make it a felony

to truthfully inform the Public about the nature of Government surveillance,
then of course the Public will be actively mislead by government officials over surveillance.

Simple mathematics.
Ask Ed Snowden.

[Catherina]

54. +1 n/t

[blackspade]

56. Wyden is a breath

of fresh air in the fetid swamp that is Washington.

[wildbilln864]

57. k & freakin r! eom!