This is what Momentum looks like ... many voices, advocating to correct the on-going NSA overreach -- and dial back on the 'extreme measures' -- now that the "criminals" of 9-11 have seen our 'swift justice.'
Wyden: Patriot Act overreach wasn’t envisioned by ‘anachronistic’ 1970s FISA law
by David Edwards, rawstory.com -- July 28, 2013
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) says that the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court created in the 1970s is “just anachronistic” because it was not designed for the “astounding reach that the court has gone to with respect to the Patriot Act.”
In an interview that aired Sunday on C-SPAN, Wyden explained that the Patriot Act granted the government “essentially limitless” power to “get medical records, financial records, records about firearms… the government’s authority’s limitless.”
Associated Press National Security Writer Lara Jakes noted that Wyden had said that the government also had the ability to track cell phones and wondered if that authority was granted in secret by the FISA Court.
[...]
New Jersey Democrat proposes bill to repeal the Patriot Act
by Eric W. Dolan, rawstory.com -- July 25, 2013
A New Jersey Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate introduced legislation on Wednesday that would repeal the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments Act.
Rep. Rush Holt, a rocket scientist, explained to RT the two laws have allowed the federal government to conduct massive domestic surveillance operations. Though he admitted his Surveillance State Repeal Act was a long shot, he was encouraged that a large minority in the House had voted to defund the NSA.
“There is a strong interest in Congress and around the country to have the debate that we have not had for decades,” Holt explained.
[...]
It's only a matter of time, before we DO have enough votes to repeal or amend the Patriot Act.
Do we really want to continue to march head-long, into this new era of "Pre-Crime Prevention" through Total Awareness -- as if such a thing were truly possible?
... as if such a thing were truly desirable.
This is what Momentum looks like ... many voices, advocating for a return to sanity, at the same time.
Sen. Mark Udall urges Patriot Act reform on Face the Nation
by Allison Sherry, The Denver Post -- July 28, 2013,
WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Mark Udall said Sunday he believes the Patriot Act should be reformed so Americans’ phone records do not get indiscriminately swept up in a federal government database, but that the National Security Agency is within its right to collect phone records of foreigners.
Speaking on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Udall told host Bob Schieffer that the NSA’s collection of Americans’ phone records -- the contents of the phone conversations are not available, but the time, phone number and length of call is -- does not make the country safer and violates Americans’ privacy rights.
“The NSA is literally collecting every phone record of every American every day,” Udall said. “I think knowing when I call somebody, from where I call somebody, and for how long I call somebody is a violation of your privacy.”
[...]
National Security Brief:
House Defeats Measure To Scale Back NSA Dragnet
by ThinkProgress -- July 25, 2013
Democrats and Republicans joined together on Wednesday to defeat an amendment to the Defense appropriations bill that would have restricted the National Security Agency’s ability to collect Americans’ phone records.
[...]
Rep. Jarod Nadler (D-NY), however, noted that the momentum is on the side of reining in the NSA programs, saying that the section of the PATRIOT Act that is used to authorize the spying dragnet is “going to end -- now or later. The only question is when and on what terms.”
[...]
It's only a matter of time, before the
voices of sanity prevail. Before we put the horse of "probable cause,"
back before the cart of "presumed innocent."
It's only a matter of time, before we once again return to suspecting the criminals -- and not the citizens.