Since Tom's already fisked the linked article, I'm going to stick to the broad strokes.
Greenwald's ongoing claim is that the 2008 FISA bill legalizes "warrant-less wiretapping"; however, warrants have never been required for targeting intelligence collection on non US persons. In fact, the main impact of the 2008 FISA bill was to explicitly specify collection and oversight standards for targeting non US persons communicating over US systems. Previously, this had been an open legal question, as I explained in a bit more detail here:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4979641
So, my big problem with Greenwald is that in all his discussion of FISA he's never provided a simple, honest explanation of how and why it changed in 2008. He uses scare words and sweeping hyperbole, but doesn't address the actual facts of the matter. I'm all for an informed debate on how (or even if) FISA should be implemented. However, you can't have that debate if you refuse to be even cognizant of the current facts.
While I agree that Greenwald mostly danced around the issue, I think there was some content to his exclamations. While I'm not terribly familiar with Jennifer Granick, I think she does a much better job explaining the FISA vs FAA debate [1]; her writing seems more objective to me. Presumably Greenwald leaves it to the reader to inform themselves? A strange idea, I must admit.
See, that's the problem. You believe this even though it's the exact opposite of the law as written. And by that I mean, no rational person with a basic grasp of the English language or US law could possibly interpret the 2008 FISA law to mean what you've claimed. However, you believe an obvious falsehood because you don't know the law itself, and are simply following what you've been told by misinformed or intentionally dishonest sources.
Thank you for exactly summing up my frustration with Glen Greenwald.
Yeah, you're a liar. Perhaps you missed the entire debate that went by the heading of "telecom amnesty", but that's on you.
Just out of curiousity: can you explain what the telecom companies were granted amnesty for? Parking tickets? Jaywalking? Or spying on Americans in America?
You mean, despite it saying the opposite. That they used slippery lawyer's words in drafting the 2008 amendments so that the bill meant the opposite of what it said.
Greenwald's ongoing claim is that the 2008 FISA bill legalizes "warrant-less wiretapping"; however, warrants have never been required for targeting intelligence collection on non US persons. In fact, the main impact of the 2008 FISA bill was to explicitly specify collection and oversight standards for targeting non US persons communicating over US systems. Previously, this had been an open legal question, as I explained in a bit more detail here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4979641
So, my big problem with Greenwald is that in all his discussion of FISA he's never provided a simple, honest explanation of how and why it changed in 2008. He uses scare words and sweeping hyperbole, but doesn't address the actual facts of the matter. I'm all for an informed debate on how (or even if) FISA should be implemented. However, you can't have that debate if you refuse to be even cognizant of the current facts.