Once Again Obama Claims Ignorance - this time of NSA Surveillance

SM2
reply to post by Indigo5

 

so what is he actually doing besides throwing up a smokescreen and making some suggestions to them?

Nothing..

because he doesn't want them to change anything.

he had to create the review board in reaction to Snowden to make it at least appear that he is doing something.

Speculation...and speculation is fair, but the recommendations are, in fact, significant. We will see in the next 30 days what is actually approved for implementation. As for whether or not the NSA actually follows whatever is dictated vs. descends further into secrecy...well at least we will have one more legal avenue to pursue if/when they are outed again. The hackers the NSA hires are a very smart and very unpredictable bunch. They are unorthodox by their nature and have a hard time following the rules. I think their will be other "Snowdens" in the future.

reply to post by Indigo5

(A) Pres. Obama does not do "furious"...whether it is his natural disposition or the idea that he consciously works to avoid the "angry black man" stereo-type...he does not do "furious".

I could have used different wording, if we're going to focus tightly on the word choice. Determined, Indignant, Passionate, or committed to removal of those who did wrong ...would be better fitting perhaps, for any United States President. Now that you mention it, emotion displayed by any of them is a rare event ...but cleaning house isn't necessarily rare when called for.

(B) I am actually surprised that folks think he would be in-the-know on the depths to which the NSA was collecting data/spying.

I can be surprised too! I'll even give Obama the benefit of being ignorant until proven otherwise (same as Libya)...and the ignorance *IS* the problem..all by itself. The buck stops ONE place. Just one...and it's his desk. When it stops with mud all over it ...it's reasonable to expect he'd be determined to rectify what came to cause a filthy buck to come to his clean desk.

He seems ...less than determined at the level I'd expect to see for a man who was made a laughing stock across the world by the actions of HIS Intelligence agency (Executive Branch ..His is a literal and not figurative term here). Conversely, where people haven't come to laugh, they've come to hate. Equally strong for something ..you'd think...he'd be headhunting over.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


You might check the wires about now...The President is announcing changes to the NSA intelligence gathering.

Good material for debate...or to inform this debate..

reply to post by Indigo5


So now Obama is saying that the Government won't hold metadata, that it will be turned over to the private sector. Big warning alarms go off in my head over this. Not only is the collection of megadata not going to stop... the data is going to be given to private entities. Combined with what I know about the TPP and the upcoming further power injection going to the sector? I'm more mad now about this BS than I was an hour ago before Obama spoke.

reply to post by Kali74


So instead of the NSA spying on us, it'll be out-sourced to whom?

*laughs*

Even intrusions into our private lives are being out-sourced! Great! A call center in India can snoop on me now.

*weeps*

Kali74
reply to post by Indigo5

 

So now Obama is saying that the Government won't hold metadata, that it will be turned over to the private sector. Big warning alarms go off in my head over this. Not only is the collection of megadata not going to stop... the data is going to be given to private entities.

Just to clear up confusion. Private entities ALREADY keep your metadata...It's how the phone company calculates your bill? That list of numbers you get along with your bill. The NSA was collecting all this data because they wanted it in one place vs. each telecom company, and because each telecom holds on to those records for different periods of time etc. The NSA was vacuuming it all up into one database for long term storage.

Sidenote: The Telecomm providers are not happy with this proposal because it will involve expense to them to store their records for the required period of time and make it searchable/accessible when a court order is received. SO the Telecomm providers are pushing back.

beezzer
reply to post by Kali74

 

So instead of the NSA spying on us, it'll be out-sourced to whom?

*laughs*

Even intrusions into our private lives are being out-sourced! Great! A call center in India can snoop on me now.

*weeps*

How do you think that call center in India gets your number to begin with?

Bottom line...Folks should re-think the utility of the good ole fashioned postal system. Send a letter...you don't even have to include a return address No need for high-level encryption, just a sealed envelope.

reply to post by Indigo5


Somehow I think that metadata has more than one meaning now.

Kali74
reply to post by Indigo5

 

Somehow I think that metadata has more than one meaning now.

Specifically in this context it is exactly what you see on your cell bill. The number you called with a time/date stamp along with the amount of time you were on the phone. This is what the NSA was blindly vacuuming up across the whole country and the world at large where they were able. Of course they have technology for deeper surveillance and tapping into calls, but that was not "blindly" being done according to both NSA and Snowden...that was only done on a case by case basis.

The advantage to the NSA having that metadata was being able to quickly see "networks" matching numbers/contacts/times across all telecomm providers.

reply to post by Indigo5


I am following it, closely and for a bit longer before I have to run for several hours beyond computer access to watch developments.

So far, I haven't heard of wide ranging replacements and removals of people in positions within US Intelligence and the NSA in particular.

As usual, it seems the bottom line will be 'no one is directly to blame cause they kinda all did it ..and promise to do no more'...or something along those general lines of thought.

Stinkin' Thinkin' is what I call that and until heads roll out the door and without pensions or benefits for retirement? He's not all that offended by what has happened.

Wrabbit2000
I'm not seeing rage..I'm seeing awkward moments ...

That's what I see as well. He's known for the past five years what has been going on.
While I agree he's ignorant of a lot and in over his head,
his claims of ignorance of knowing about this situation ring hollow to me.

Advantage
I can see certain posters are trying to spin this all political, pitting right against left.

Yep .. but it's got nothing to do with left or right ... they both do it.
Chris Christie says he didn't know about 'bridge-gate' ... and how many people buy that load of crap?
Obama continually claims he didn't know about his or that .. and now about NSA spying ...
and yet Obama has been in office 5 years and most likely has had information given to him that
came from that very spying.

Both left and right deny deny deny and feign being left out of the 'knowing what's going on' when it suits them.

Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Indigo5

 

So far, I haven't heard of wide ranging replacements and removals of people in positions within US Intelligence and the NSA in particular.

Maybe I just pay attention to these issues more than most...a recovering news junkie..

NSA Spy Director Keith Alexander & Deputy to Step Down
www.heavy.com...

reply to post by Indigo5

) Pres. Obama does not do "furious"...whether it is his natural disposition or the idea that he consciously works to avoid the "angry black man" stereo-type...he does not do "furious".

I'm sorry, but I found this statement very humorous. I've seen the rage on his face when he doesn't get his own way; you can almost 'see' the smoke billowing from his ears!
Tell they military leaders who's careers have been ended for refusing to be 'yes' men that he doesn't do furious. I could list a whole lot more examples, but a biased mind will only see what they want to see.
I feel sorry for the guy, megalomaniac that he appears to be; he seems to be running neck-and-neck with Tricky Dick in the annals of history. With three years still left, I have no doubt that obama will come out the winner.

reply to post by FlyersFan


The PTB have figured out apathy runs so deep that outrage only lasts a week at the most. We are screwed people. Don't believe look at the past two years and ask yourself how many stories vanished like a fart in the winds of apathy.




Now that they have figured this out they are using it to terrible effect. Pretty soon it will be so commonly accepted it will not even be reported anymore. Brilliant PTB..........Brilliant.

reply to post by Indigo5

Sad thing is, according to recent reports, they are even scanning and copying snail mail now, and keeping THOSE records. Obviously, not opening it, but tracking all communications.

Or, are they?

www.forbes.com...

The U.S. Government Tracks All The Snail Mail You Send Too

(snip)

... The government has been doing the same thing for postal mail for years.

(snip)

Court documents stated that the postal service “photographs and captures an image of every mail piece that is processed,”

reply to post by Indigo5


That quells the rage a little bit.
I don't think I'll ever be un-mad at the situation though.

If Obama says he didn't "Know"...

Then how did he "Know" way back in 2007 ?

He is definitely one sharp blue ribbon pedigree.

Obama Lie #13 - "No more Illegal Wire Tapping of American Citizens"
Youtube

reply to post by Libertygal


Right...Postal sorting equipment that reads the address and routes it uses computer tech. It's a small step from there to insert technology to store that image/data if they choose to. BUT...at the end of the day...if you simply do not include a return address on the outside of the envelope they have nothing to track you by. It is a million-fold more private than a cell phone, text, or email. It's why it took them decades to find the unibomber and why many of the ricin mailings remain unsolved....not to point out the obvious downside of that..

Same reason it took us so long to find Bin Laden. He retreated to only communicating via written letters via messenger. We had to identify and find his messenger and follow him to Bin Laden.

Seriously, there is something to be said for the good ole Postal System. It's the most private communication network we have right now.

Flash !!

More nosy jealous insiders.

President Barack Obama announced Friday that John Podesta, his new "counselor" and the political operative responsible for creating the institutional left in Washington, will be the appointed "to lead a comprehensive review of big data and privacy" in the aftermath of revelations about the National Security Agency's electronic spying programs. When he joined the White House last month, Podesta's focus was said to be "climate change."

Podesta, Left-Wing Mastermind, to Lead NSA Review

We *can* really "Trust" this nut right?

One look at him and all I see is "cover up" and melting icing on the donuts.