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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSenator Wyden: The Lonely Hero of the Battle Against the Surveillance State
Congress will consider modifying the Patriot Act in the coming weeks. The type of bill that is passed will determine the extent of government surveillance for decades. This means the fight for real, meaningful reform is gearing up. It's time to end ineffective bulk collection and stand-up for privacy..
Spread the word and tell Congress you won't let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity go by without your input
Ron Wyden: The Lonely Hero of the Battle Against the Surveillance State
The Oregon senator isn't as famous as Edward Snowden or Julian Assange, but his push for limits on the NSA could result in much-needed reforms.
Garrett Epps Oct 23 2013 - http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/ron-wyden-the-lonely-hero-of-the-battle-against-the-surveillance-state/280782/
But if there is any good outcome to the current miserable situation, it will also be the work of a figure a who is a good deal less colorful but much more durable: Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.
For years before the Snowden leaks, the Democratic lawmaker had been carefully balancing two imperatives: his own oath as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee to keep the secrets conveyed in confidence to the committee; and his larger commitment to the American people, who were being fed a diet of soothing lies.
Ideally, the committee would represent the people, advocating their interests behind closed doors. But, Wyden says, Congress can't do vigorous oversight if they can't get straight answers.
In other words, as we now know, the spymasters lienot only to us, in public, but to their supposed overseers on the Hill. ......
Octafish
(55,745 posts)We believe most Americans would be stunned to learn the details of how these secret court opinions have interpreted section 215 of the Patriot Act. As we see it, there is now a significant gap between what most Americans think the law allows and what they government secretly claims the law allows. This is a problem, because it is impossible to have an informed public debate about what the law should say when the public doesnt know what its government thinks the law says, the Senators wrote.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=654403
grasswire
(50,130 posts)kath
(10,565 posts)Sadly, one of the few good people we have on Capitol Hill.
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)bvar22
(39,909 posts)Thumbs Down for liar Clapper.
Why hasn't Clapper been fired?
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)among us love him. Republicans and conservative Democrats love him. And IMO he holds a lot of power to the extent that the President can't fire him if he wanted. Clapper works for the Powers To Be. He has seen presidents come and go but he is still there.