NSA Spying Comes Under Attack

maotx writes "The NSA's no-longer-secret surveillance program came under a two-pronged attack this week on both political and legal fronts. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania threatens to cut funding to NSA's spying program if President Bush's administration does not come clean on how it works. Separately, two hearing dates have been set for a lawsuit that seeks to prove that AT&T illegally cooperated with the NSA and violated federal wiretapping laws in doing so. Sen. Specter emphasized that he doesn't want the issue to fade into the background, saying that he'd like to see 'public concern and public indignation build up.'"

Comments

Re:What the item leaves out

[SatanicPuppy]

Hey, remember that this guy is a fricking Republican. He doesn't need to posture...He's got nothing to lose if his party stays in power.

What he's doing is saying, "Hey! President Jackass! Things are going to get ugly around here if you don't start keeping us in the loop! This ain't the House, where they gotta depend on your ass for fundraising! Half of us aren't up for re-election until 2010! So tell us what's going on with this NSA crap, or we may just create us a little gridlock."

Specter is one of the last old school republicans in congress...I can remember when I thought he was a jackass rather than one of the only rational senators.

Re:People Do Not Care

[tshak]

Privacy is not essential for freedom

Free speech is essential for freedom. Anonymity is essential for free speach. I can not excercise free speech if I'm worried about the government recording everything I say. When I am engaged in some form of private communication my privacy is my freedom. Whether Franklin originally wrote it or not, I will proclaim: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."