I don't agree with absolutely everything these kids have to say, but DAMN! it is heady stuff to actually realize there are kids out there who are paying attention to something other than SnapChat and Vines.
It is also worth the 12 minutes to listen to the hilarity of government stooges struggling mightily to address legitimate concerns over illegitimate government overreach and intrusion by trying to redefine adversary. Finally the NSA woman wrestling with the meaning of words, just rolls over and exposes her soft underbelly by admitting that the NSA is not for everyone.
Nope. As the young woman points out, it's only for liars.
Remember, great evil requires large, unaccountable bureaucracies. Hundreds of thousands of people just like these flagrant idiots recruiting for "the team." Hundreds of thousands of people willing to do anything they are told to do.
Cogs in the wheel.
Paper pushers.
Listeners.
Wow. Those NSA people really live in a bubble. They were not in any way prepared, it's like they had no idea the NSA was embroiled in a huge controversy.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really long pause after the woman said "I'm not here to present the NSA..." while she tried figure a way out of that hole.
Here's a tip for the man, you never ever say "We're apolitical, we just follow orders." That has kind of a bad history, read a book sometime and you'll figure this stuff out.
I don't know why they had such a problem saying every nation is an actual or potential adversary. It's true and everybody knows it. I doubt that the German government is at all shocked that we surveil them. They might be shocked that it's more thorough than they thought, but even that's doubtful. They just have to playact "shocked" for political reasons, and everybody knows that too. I don't really have a problem with surveillance of foreign governments. I do have a problem with a "security" department that's so hopelessly inept at actual security that a contract worker can walk off with a thumbdrive full of secrets.
PRISM is a whole different issue, that's plainly directed at individual U.S. citizens and has vastly more value as a political weapon than as a security tool.
You have to be a liar, but you don't have to be a good one. Clapper had tells that he was lying. When a bald man is twiddling with his hair, that isn't there anymore, you can guess that he's lying.