FBI Chief: Citizens Should Be 'Deeply Skeptical' of Government

Well that makes you all four. [sarc]


Im a bit confused. Is he saying that people with encrypted phoes are beyond the law? Or people who are allowed to read other people's phones without a court order are above the law? I was assuming he meant the latter.

reply to: TrueAmerican

originally posted by: Woodcarver
Well that makes you all four. [sarc]


Im a bit confused. Is he saying that people with encrypted phoes are beyond the law? Or people who are allowed to read other people's phones without a court order are above the law? I was assuming he meant the latter.

reply to: TrueAmerican

Same here, because it fit in with the context of everything he said prior to that.

The fact that he is FBI and not CIA will allow him a pass from this poster. Still, he's in a position of power and telling us not to trust those in a position of power. Did he know what he did there?

Well i guess that makes him a whistle blower. Of course i believe him. I can't imagine any one who believes he's lying. There is nothing to gain except integrity when calling out the corrupt. And we all know they are corrupt.

Devils advocate here:

say he just got caught doing something bad, and now he needs a plausible reason for the gov to try to discredit him. So he sets up a scenario like he is calling out corruption. Now when the gov says they found kiddie porn on his computer, he can say they are throwing him under the bus because he called out corruption.


I think it's beyond plausible that he is telling the truth and that the gov is overstepping it's mandates. Besides i like this flavor of kool-aid.


a reply to: DeepImpactX

originally posted by: olaru12
Where in Gods name will the power come from to change the tyrannical Corporate Oligarchy and the accompanying corruption.

It won't come. It would be a slaughter if it tried. You can only drop out. Grow your hair long and stop wearing the socially acceptable mask. Don't pretend to happily go along with the BS required for a paycheck. Maybe you'll start seeing the enemy and the henchmen where you didn't before. Maybe they will force you out of the loop now that you no longer play the game. They'll be happy to give you no alternative but to drop out. Wasn't that easy? It's fun too. See you on the farm.

You don't need to be "skeptical" about government these days. Snowden has showed us they are grossly violating the Constitution and law on a scale that previously could not have been imagined by the average American. Although this is fact, they CONTINUE to do it anyway and NOTHING is being done about it.

Skeptical? Uhhhhhh..... Yeah, that horse left the gate a while ago.

I don't trust this crap for one second.

Above the law, Apple, FBI making a public statement like that.

This is such hype, I can't bare to think that the Apple zombies in the near future will actually believe they have encrypted phones that are uncrackable and that the government gave up or just let them have superior technology.

I rather wait for the iphone 12, it will only take three months for this one to be obsolete.

"The notion that we would market devices that would allow someone to place themselves beyond the law, troubles me a lot,"

Luckily the power of the law will never defeat the power of mathematics. A person who wants to have secure communications is not going to use a god damn iPhone in the first place regardless of how "secure" they are supposed to be. I just wish everyone had a rudimentary understanding of encryption, then the government wouldn't be able to read any of our communications. The movies where they show codes being cracked in seconds are stupid, there are encryption techniques so good that no one will crack them in your life time.

Citizens should be skeptical of the government... but he's from the government... so I should be skeptical of what he says... so I shouldnt be skeptical of the government?

*head blows up*

While everyone is flailing about and fanning their own egos about already being in 'The Know' Isn't this the site where we hear, all day, everyday, about how the Average American 'Sheeple' are ignorant of the 'Truth' and shouldn't trust the Government?


Here we have the FBI Chief of all people basically saying the same thing. This will be aired to a much wider audience that normally wouldn't entertain such notions. I for one don't agree with everything the man has to say but am glad he has spoken out about how people should be 'Deeply Skeptical' of Government and hope more people will listen.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder


Sure deal. Just listen to political language.

Yea they went through all the trouble to convince us they needed to do this for out safety. However folks that need to get around these measures simply use code talk, stay away from buzz words ect. Someone could call a another and say "hay come over for pizza tonight" and that could mean anything but its not going to be picked up.

originally posted by: Ridhya
Citizens should be skeptical of the government... but he's from the government... so I should be skeptical of what he says... so I shouldnt be skeptical of the government?

*head blows up*

Sounds like a concession from a government employee that distrust of government is at all time highs, off the chart.

And yea to your point, folks hear this and are still skeptical. Its a misdirection of some sort. Its designed to pacify or some slizzel. Then he smacks with the other hand.

I think this guy should come to ATS AMA...just to lay down the facts...just for the sake of all those ATS members...that think...that suspecting your govt. of wrongdoing is somehow crazy conspiracy.

I see many members that can't absorb the simple fact of life...the Govt, the system, or whatever you wanna call it...is not here to help or protect you. Not anymore. But for all intents and purposes...it needs to look like it's doing just that.

The strongest force on Earth...is people united for a cause. For that very fact,....they need to be kept in an boxed illusion. Divided constantly...lied to daily...to prevent unity. All this results in a much more manageable group of subjects.

Mission accomplished...

originally posted by: ausername
a reply to: TrueAmerican

We are far beyond the point of being unable to trust the people in power now. Problem is, they are way too powerful now to do a damned thing about it.

I'm sure the FBI dude is more aware of that fact than most people are.

You shouldn't be encouraging this kind of thinking. The people were, are and always will be far more powerful than any government. But only when joining together.

All the weapons and military personnel in America could not stop a revolution from even 10% of the US population. You have all the power you need if everyone stood up at the same time. Not only could the government not stop you all. But if they opened fire on you with live ammunition the rest of the world would not stand for it.

People need to realise that you all out number the (military + police force + government agencies) hundreds to one. And thats assuming nobody in the military finds their conscience and decides not to fire on the people and join them instead.

30 million people storming the white house lawns could never be stopped. and thats not even 10% of the US population.

Stop posting ridiculous idiotic tripe as "fact" because sh!t like that doesn't help anybody. Apart from the government

a reply to: Silicis n Volvo

Okay then, not encouraging that kind of thinking, I suppose I should suggest that we now live in a world of endless rainbows with pots of gold for the taking. A country where unicorns roam free, everything is peachy, our government makes all of this possible for us, because they love us, and we really are empowered over them... They work for us, we are the bosses.

It's all good... There, that better?

originally posted by: Silicis n Volvo
30 million people storming the white house lawns could never be stopped. and thats not even 10% of the US population.

Your army would be stopped before it started. The government is good at monitoring. The general populace is happy to say something if they see something.

Where are you going to get your army? There are master slave relationships everywhere. Our population is busy fighting for dominance amongst itself. Dominants and submissives aren't paying attention to what the government is or is not doing. They barely know what's going on outside their own little games. They just take for granted that they have some land on which to play their power games. They can't be bothered with the higher mechanisms. If you haven't seen this, you should look for it. It's happening. The ruling elite have it easy.

a reply to: Silicis n Volvo

You shouldn't be encouraging this kind of thinking. The people were, are and always will be far more powerful than any government. But only when joining together.

You are 100% correct but the problem with your statement is that you have forgotten the part where they have been writing laws for just over a decade to deal decisively with citizens joining together. The war on terror was not meant to deal with actual terrorists, the war on terror and terrorism laws was so they could brand any GROUP of people who dissent with the current tyranny unfolding in America as "domestic terrorists" and deal with them as such.

Remember that the majority of the general population has no problem with the Patriot Act, NDAA, etc. All they care about is safety and their everyday life not being interrupted. The large majority can't be bothered by silly interruptions such as personal freedom, civil liberty and Constitutional guarantees. All of this especially when there are radical citizens out there who have the notion that the second Amendment is valid and needed and because ISIS and Al-Qaeda are so dangerous and scary.

All of those laws were never meant for foreign terrorists. They were meant for us and that is where they are being used and there isn't an argument that can refute that.

FBI Chief: "Citizens Should Be 'Deeply Skeptical' of Government"

Including the FBI!

originally posted by: ausername
a reply to: Silicis n Volvo

Okay then, not encouraging that kind of thinking, I suppose I should suggest that we now live in a world of endless rainbows with pots of gold for the taking. A country where unicorns roam free, everything is peachy, our government makes all of this possible for us, because they love us, and we really are empowered over them... They work for us, we are the bosses.

It's all good... There, that better?

What part of my last post suggested any of what you just said? Why put words into my mouth?

The simple fact is. The world is in a terrible state. A mess created by the rich and powerful. Powerful in the sense that they make the laws we follow.

Not powerful in the sense that they have any real strength to stop everyone from ignoring those laws and removing them from their positions of power.

They get away with all the sh!t they pull because we let them.

We have all the power we need in sheer numbers. And should enough of us band together to rid the world of all the tyrants who trap you in this unequal system then there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. There isnt a military or police force on earth that could stop lets say a quarter of the US population from removing your president from power.

My point is we have the power and idiots like you are telling people there is nothing we can do. Just leave it alone its the way things are they are too powerful for us to do anything.

Bull#! It's just your cowardly excuse not to get off your ass and do anything.

Now is any part of what I just said unclear to you? Because if you still think i'm saying the world is all peaches and cream then I will have to dumb it down some more

Doesn't the new Apple policy only affect local storage on the device itself?

So all your voice, emails, texts, literally all actual communication and the transfer of data to the device are still very much accessible by NSA and LE?

They seem to enjoy continually misleading and deceiving the public by playing along with this as if it were an actual problem for them when this lying sack knows all too well it's nothing of the kind.

a reply to: Silicis n Volvo

I like your thinking - too bad everyone suffers from the problems you mentioned - not everyone thinks like you do - so much for the power of thinking like you do - now if only we could get everyone to think like you.

Wait A Minute! Government is an organization of ordinary citizens like you and me! They already think like you! They think that the rest of the people are powerless, because they are organized and capable of pulling routinely organized behaviour with impunity over the people.... Do you suggest that perhaps they shouldn't?

The amazing thing is that in spite of "our" power over them, we keep paying them to keep that mentality, go figure!