OBAMAGATE

[AiA in Atlanta]

Has Animal Mother posted this one yet

Audible gasps, shock, outrage and support for a congressional investigation were the responses by law-enforcement officers, elected officials and attorneys to a presentation by Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Cold Case Posse of evidence that Barack Obama’s birth certificate is fraudulent.

Arapaio is Nutter # 1 and is most likely a drunk.

[AnimalMother]

That doesn't seem to have any relation to Obama.

But this new scandal does.

The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.

The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.

The Guardian has verified the authenticity of the document, a 41-slide PowerPoint presentation – classified as top secret with no distribution to foreign allies – which was apparently used to train intelligence operatives on the capabilities of the program. The document claims "collection directly from the servers" of major US service providers.

Even the New York Times is up in arms about it.

That's four major scandals breaking in just a month or two. I wonder what else Obama has been up to?

[boxy]

PRISM was GWB's gift the spooks. Seems quite effective too.

[AnimalMother]

Obama's problem is that he rather loudly promised to shut down stuff like that - but has been exposed as expanding it instead.

Probably any president would have done the same, but open government was one of Obama's main platforms and now it's shown to be a lie.

[boxy]

Are you fucking kidding me? This is what the NSA does, and has always done. They're spooks

"[It is] gut wrenching to see this happen because of the huge, grave damage it does to our intelligence capabilities," he said.

Mr Clapper has also released a statement condemning the reports. He confirmed that US spy agencies use a system code-named PRISM to gather up the data left by foreign citizens using the internet outside the US. But he said media reports, based on leaked documents, failed to put the program in context and insisted PRISM is overseen by a secret court under laws approved by Congress.

"Over the last week we have seen reckless disclosures of intelligence community measures used to keep Americans safe," his statement read. "In a rush to publish, media outlets have not given the full context – including the extent to which these programs are overseen by all three branches of government – to these effective tools. Disclosing information about the specific methods the government uses to collect communications can obviously give our enemies a 'playbook' of how to avoid detection.

"Nonetheless, section 702 [of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] has proven vital to keeping the nation and our allies safe. It continues to be one of our most important tools for the protection of the nation’s security."

But I guess it's fine for the the Republicans to whiteant these efforts, for the "greater good", of getting Obama. Desperate much?

[AnimalMother]

Of course this is what the NSA does. Problem is, Obama promised to stop doing this stuff.

And it wasn't Republicans who outed it - it was the very left-wing British newspaper, The Guardian, which hates Republicans.

Obama has been busted by lefties, for failing to keep his promises to lefties. Republicans are just going along for the ride this time.

[Super Nova]

Mr Clapper and the PRISM stuff is the lead story in the UK.

I am landing on the side of that we should not restrain too much the security service with all these goodie two shoes laws that are too idealistic for our current times.

I am beginning to subscribe to the "if you are law biding you have nothing to fear" philosophy.

While I do have some distrust of big brother surveillance, some is needed to proactively identify terrorists and criminals who are now just as sophisticated as the agencies in their ability to communicate and plan their crimes. They are without borders.

[boxy]

[AiA in Atlanta]

Good chance that the NSA whistleblower will be "disappeared."

[Super Nova]

Good chance that the NSA whistleblower will be "disappeared."

Would this be "treason"?