Source behind NSA leaks comes forward

A source behind a series of major leaks about U.S. spying programs revealed himself on Sunday, as the Obama administration investigates the disclosure and lawmakers debate the implications of the sweeping surveillance of Americans.

The Guardian newspaper said that Edward Snowden, a defense contractor at Booz Allen Hamilton who worked with the National Security Agency, was the source behind articles exposing the widespread collection of U.S. phone and Internet records by the Obama administration.

“I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong,” he told the paper.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/source-behind-nsa-leaks-comes-forward/article/2531432

fshnski wrote:"...A source behind a series of major leaks about U.S. spying programs revealed himself on Sunday, as the Obama administration investigates the disclosure and lawmakers debate the implications of the sweeping surveillance of Americans..."

Also,

"...In a press release, Sensenbrenner wrote, “Seizing phone records of millions of innocent people is excessive and un-American.” Sensenbrenner is flat out right. It’s no wonder that overall, only 30% believe the feds today are a protector of individual rights..."

But didn’t Obama say that he wanted to be a President who listens to all the people?

He does listen to all the people! Some more then others.

Didn't Sensenbrenner write the Patriot Act? Didn't it pass the Senate by a vote of 98-1? Did the key players in Congress not know that this stuff was going on? And now Obama is to take the blame? I think not!

Is it OK for him to do wrong because somebody has done it before him? He has had 5 years to correct this travesty of American life! He was supposed to fix what was wrong with America, not add to it!

fshnski wrote:Is it OK for him to do wrong because somebody has done it before him? He has had 5 years to correct this travesty of American life! He was supposed to fix what was wrong with America, not add to it!

The Congress knew about all of this, and they can pass legislation any time they want to amend the Patriot Act. Why didn't they, and why does Obama take all of the blame? Here's the rub: Nothing is going to change! They're all going to blow smoke and it will be business as usual when the smoke clears!

Obama could have changed anything he wanted to in his first two years with a Dem House and Senate. Why didn't he get rid of the Patriot Act then? Why didn't he get us out of the wars then? Why didn't he get rid of all the things you blame Bush for then?

News Buzzard wrote:The Congress knew about all of this, and they can pass legislation any time they want to amend the Patriot Act. Why didn't they, and why does Obama take all of the blame? Here's the rub: Nothing is going to change! They're all going to blow smoke and it will be business as usual when the smoke clears!

Congress did NOT know about Prism, and that is what we are talking about not the Patriot Act. The House will be briefed on Prism for the first time tomorrow.

News Buzzard wrote:

fshnski wrote:Is it OK for him to do wrong because somebody has done it before him? He has had 5 years to correct this travesty of American life! He was supposed to fix what was wrong with America, not add to it!

The Congress knew about all of this, and they can pass legislation any time they want to amend the Patriot Act. Why didn't they, and why does Obama take all of the blame? Here's the rub: Nothing is going to change! They're all going to blow smoke and it will be business as usual when the smoke clears!

Are you Ok with that?

News Buzzard wrote:

fshnski wrote:Is it OK for him to do wrong because somebody has done it before him? He has had 5 years to correct this travesty of American life! He was supposed to fix what was wrong with America, not add to it!

The Congress knew about all of this, and they can pass legislation any time they want to amend the Patriot Act. Why didn't they, and why does Obama take all of the blame? Here's the rub: Nothing is going to change! They're all going to blow smoke and it will be business as usual when the smoke clears!

...we know about the Whistleblower than we know about Obama...

I know, we do know more about him already than we know about Obama after all these years.

I feel so sorry for the guy, he is trying to help clean up the mess and he has become the enemy. Whatever happened to whistleblower's being protected. Just because he took a secrecy pledge does not mean he should not report wrongdoing.

I guess Facebook participants would be inured to spying.


Quote from Whistleblower:

"The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested...If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards.

Wrong-doing by Government!

News Buzzard would have no problem with a Marxist "Surveillance State". How else is Obama going to "get things done"—with the Republicans holding everything up?


...and now, a New York Congressman wants him extradited...!



I was wondering why SCOTUS Justice Roberts flipped in favor of ObamaCare.

Outerlimits wrote:

News Buzzard wrote:The Congress knew about all of this, and they can pass legislation any time they want to amend the Patriot Act. Why didn't they, and why does Obama take all of the blame? Here's the rub: Nothing is going to change! They're all going to blow smoke and it will be business as usual when the smoke clears!

Congress did NOT know about Prism, and that is what we are talking about not the Patriot Act. The House will be briefed on Prism for the first time tomorrow.

Roving intelligence gathering is permitted by section 206 of the Patriot Act, which has been around for more than a decade now. There was some housekeeping done to FISA in 2008 after it was discovered that Bush and Cheney were doing wiretaps without warrants, and PRISM enhances the technology considerably. Our government has been violating the 4th Amendment at the airports since 9/11, so why are we so outraged by all of this? Personally, I don't know enough about PRISM it to form an opinion on it, but to come out and say this is Obama's baby is disingenuous at the very least!

So we're seeing business as usual.

News Buzzard wrote:Roving intelligence gathering is permitted by section 206 of the Patriot Act, which has been around for more than a decade now. There was some housekeeping done to FISA in 2008 after it was discovered that Bush and Cheney were doing wiretaps without warrants, and PRISM enhances the technology considerably. Our government has been violating the 4th Amendment at the airports since 9/11, so why are we so outraged by all of this? Personally, I don't know enough about PRISM it to form an opinion on it, but to come out and say this is Obama's baby is disingenuous at the very least!

Prism is not only an enhancement of technology, it is a completely different in scope and nature than what was done previously under the Patriot act. Under the Patriot act, the government was able to tap in to domestic/foreign connections of suspected terrorists with only a blanket warrant.

Prism on the other hand, collects all data from everyone and data mines for tendencies. In essence, they collected all contacts on the 9 U.S. servers and all moble phone data both foreign/domestic and domestic/domestic. They back it up every day so they can go back and retrieve anything. This practice started under Obama's watch and unlike the other scandals, he admits he knew about it.

If you think this is a simple progression of technology, you are lying to yourself.

Thanks for helping me understand that a little better. OL

Data mining is still permitted as a result of section 206 of the Patriot Act, Outerlimits, and the biggest flaw in your statement is calling PRISM a scandal, when it could in fact be just a further application and interpretation of current statutes, good or bad! It's so odd how the conservatives are all of a sudden against this! There didn't seem to be any problem when the Bush administration was eavesdropping without warrants, but now Obama's name is attached to it, so it's a scandal. There is no credibility to that kind of bashing!

Congress seems to be taking more aim at the leaker than the leaks:

http://news.yahoo.com/washington-turns-nsa-blinders-target-weird-guy-leaker-155539908.html

How can the government gathering all my Verizon and internet records on a daily basis and saving it for review be a modest encroachment of my rights?

How can this be anything else but a scandal?

No one expects 100% security. There simply is no way for that to happen. Where did this administration get the idea the people want this? Probably the same place they got the idea they could guarantee health coverage for all. They manufactured it to justify their power grabs.

If we could trust the government and it wasn't corrupt, then the privacy issues wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, it is. If the government can designate those with opposing views as 'enemies', and use agencies to target them, as in the IRS scandal, there's no telling where it will stop.

Look how NB treats us. He thinks we're the enemy and disrespects us as if we have a lesser intelligence.

Good point.


Who is to say the data collected from the NSA could be used for other purposes? In the wake of the IRS, EPA, and DOJ scandals, is it really hard to believe another government agency could use privileged data to target certain groups? Could the data be used to create a political dissident list?

Has it happend already?

It goes beyond my reasoning powers to believe that there are people that don't care that this is happening. Ignorance is bliss. And a lot easier. I guess.

It is a fundamental failure to look at the consequences over the long term.

Young people tend to be liberal in their beliefs. As they mature they realize that life is not black and white and while things might look great on a bumper sticker, the real world has consequences.

Some Democrats are fine with this because they approve of who is getting targeted and in some ways believe they should be targeted. They are not considering the long term ramifications of a government power grab. The Republican Party will regain power at some point. When that happens, the extra powers the government is taking now (in their interests) will suddenly be working against them.

I seem to be having a difficult time getting my point across that the NSA data mining did not start with Obama, and it is quite apparent here on this forum that the presumption of guilt is associated with his name. I would like to go back to the example of the airports. The 4th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees our right to privacy. A government official, usually a police officer, cannot search any suitcase you're carrying without a search warrant or probable cause that there is contraband in the suitcase. The same thing goes for your car. You go to the airport, and the first thing you may experience is a TSA screener rifling through your suitcase. Where is the warrant, and where is any probable cause that you are carrying contraband? This is a violation of your protections under the 4th Amendment!, but our national justification is that the right of everyone's safety on the flight trumps your right to privacy. The same goes with a personal stop and frisk. A police officer cannot search your person unless he has a search warrant or some probable cause that you are carrying contraband, but if you're handicapped, like I am, you are personally frisked if you set the buzzer off at the screener's gate. I can't tell you how many times I've been frisked at airports, and fortunately that stopped when the scanners were brought in.

The government will make the same argument about data mining. Our protection as a society trumps our right to privacy, and that's how they'll justify it. If the Republicans ever do get back into power, ( ) they will never stop the data mining!! That's just a fact!

Text of the 4th Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.