

Who Cares if NSA Snooping Is Legal? It's Still Disgusting. - smsm42
http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/06/who-cares-if-nsa-snooping-is-legal-its-s

======
twargoth
Maybe it is. So far, we only have news reports, and they look bad. Hopefully,
we'll see some political push to review the program and find out more about
its methods and goals.

------
mtgx
The way NSA and FBI have operated is that they do something
illegal/unconstitutional, say like wiretapping phones from people without a
warrant, for a few years, and then they lobby for it to become legal, so they
can do it freely, and also be able to use it in Court. They succeed "because
terrorists", and then they can say "everything we're doing is legal". That law
may also be unconstitutional, but by the time it reaches the Supreme Court, it
could be decades, and the damage will already be done.

So yes, it is disgusting. Some of these laws get passed with maybe 1% of the
population being aware of them or what they really mean, because they
obfuscate them so much in their public statements, and the media has been very
complacent about it.

I don't think the media even reported the FISA renewal last year, or they
didn't do it much at all, at least. As if it wasn't even a big deal. That's
what makes it all so disgusting.

Then the administration has the nerve to say "there has been oversight", even
though that oversight, besides being hidden from the public, is also very
limited:

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/07/o...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/07/obama-
says-the-nsa-has-had-plenty-of-oversight-heres-why-hes-wrong/?hpid=z1)

