the left and the right are acting as if their hair is on fire. data mining is a necessary law enforcement tool.
On Jun 13, 1:22 pm, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/the-obama-surveil... > **** > The Obama Surveillance Revelations Are Pushing Liberals Over the Edge**** > > [image: obamanatsec.banner.getty.jpg]**** > > Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images**** > > The email went out shortly after midnight Thursday, a few hours after the news > broke<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon...>about > the Obama administration's large-scale monitoring of Americans' > cell-phone records: "You are being spied on." **** > > It was sent by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a leading liberal > organization, to its list of supporters, and it asked them to sign a > petition<http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/phone_spying/?akid=13615.16523...>demanding > an investigation of the cell-phone surveillance. "It's simply > unacceptable," the email said. **** > > As further revelations about domestic surveillance have emerged in recent > days, the group has kept up the drumbeat. The response, PCCC officials say, > has been overwhelming -- a sign of the widespread liberal anger at Obama > over civil liberties. **** > > "We just think that what's happening here is so outrageous, progressives > can't afford to stand on the sidelines," PCCC's Zaid Jilani said. "We have > to stand up for accountable, transparent government that respects your > rights." **** > > It is PCCC's first campaign on a civil-liberties issue; the group is best > known for its work pushing progressive economic policies, including > campaigns against entitlement cuts and on behalf of Massachusetts Senator > Elizabeth Warren. On Monday, the group started a legal-defense fund for > leaker Edward Snowden, and on Wednesday it plans to deliver nearly 30,000 > petition signatures to the Senate Judiciary Committee. **** > > It is hardly the first time the Obama Administration has angered civil > libertarians. But this episode has finally pushed many of the president's > liberal supporters over the brink, Jilani said. **** > > "We thought there would be interest from our members in this issue, but we > were definitely taken aback by the response," he said. "There have been > concerns before about Obama's record on civil liberties and the security > state, but people are genuinely shocked by the extent of this." **** > > "There have been concerns before about Obama's record on civil liberties > and the security state, but people are genuinely shocked by the extent of > this." **** > > For liberals who accused the administration of George W. Bush of > insufficient transparency, expansion of executive power, and disregarding > constitutional protections, Obama's policies -- and the contrast with his > campaign rhetoric -- have long grated. Many tolerated them until the NSA > revelations made the issue too glaring to ignore, Jilani said. **** > > "If you go back and look at candidate Obama's statements about > whistleblowers and civil liberties, breaches of freedom and privacy under > the past administration, you'd have a hard time saying Candidate Obama > would agree with President Obama on this," Jilani said. "Within six hours > of the whistleblower being outed, they were already talking about a > criminal probe. They weren't talking about any internal investigation of > the NSA's conduct or abuses of the Patriot Act." **** > > The left is not necessarily unified in its outrage, and Jilani acknowledged > some PCCC members have expressed dismay that the organization is turning > its fire so harshly on the president. Similarly, in Congress, the issue has > scrambled the partisan equation; hawkish liberals like Senator Dianne > Feinstein have defended the administration, while civil libertarians on > both sides of the aisle, from Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley to Republican > Senator Mike Lee, have criticized it. **** > > A Pew > poll<http://www.people-press.org/2013/06/10/majority-views-nsa-phone-track...>released > Monday found majorities of Americans approve of call tracking and > disapprove of email monitoring. The 41 percent of Americans who disapprove > of secret NSA phone-record collection included 34 percent of Democrats -- > about half the proportion who disapproved of surveillance tactics in the > Bush Administration. **** > > The partisan grassroots appear similarly divided. MoveOn.org has been > silent on the issue -- the group's website features petitions about > military sexual assault and genetically modified crops, but nothing about > civil liberties. Similarly, Americans United for Change has stayed focused > on gun control and criticizing congressional Republicans. In PCCC's corner > on the issue are the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil > Liberties Union -- and the Tea Party group FreedomWorks. **** > > There is some heartburn about being at odds with Obama and in the same camp > as some of his bitterest enemies. But the progressives blame the > administration for alienating them, said Becky Bond, political director of > Credo Mobile, the liberal cell-phone provider and political organizing > group. As of Monday night, Credo had collected nearly 90,000 signatures on > a petition it plans to deliver to the White House demanding that the > administration acknowledge and provide a legal justification for its > surveillance efforts. **** > > "We're an organization that cares about issues," Bond said. "We know we > often have to hold accountable those who are in power, especially when it > comes to the security state and the apparatus the executive controls. It > doesn't matter what party -- the potential for abuse is always there. But > we're particularly disappointed that this president would go this far." **** > > ** ** > > __._,_.___ > > __,_._,___ > > image001.jpg > 61KViewDownload -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
