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May 27 15 3:10 PM
Apple co-founder says the NSA whistleblower “gave up his own life . . . to help the rest of us” Steve Wozniak reaffirmed his staunch support for digital privacy in an interview over the weekend in which the Apple co-founder called National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden “a hero.” Wozniak, who helped build Apple AAPL -2.07% with Steve Jobs before leaving the tech giant in the mid-1980’s, has expressed an affinity for Snowden in the past. Over the weekend, Wozniak reiterated his admiration for Snowden in an interview with ArabianBusiness.com in which the inventor said Snowden “gave up his own life . . . to help the rest of us.”
Apple co-founder says the NSA whistleblower “gave up his own life . . . to help the rest of us”
Steve Wozniak reaffirmed his staunch support for digital privacy in an interview over the weekend in which the Apple co-founder called National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden “a hero.”
Wozniak, who helped build Apple AAPL -2.07% with Steve Jobs before leaving the tech giant in the mid-1980’s, has expressed an affinity for Snowden in the past. Over the weekend, Wozniak reiterated his admiration for Snowden in an interview with ArabianBusiness.com in which the inventor said Snowden “gave up his own life . . . to help the rest of us.”
Read more @ http://fortune.com/2015/05/26/steve-wozniak-edward-snowden/
And "Woz" is equally approachable for normal people. He speaks passionately about everything and does not appear to edit himself. When we start to talk about privacy and I ask him whether he thinks NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is a hero or a villain his answer is prompt and unabashed. "Total hero to me; total hero," he gushes. "Not necessarily [for] what he exposed, but the fact that he internally came from his own heart, his own belief in the United States Constitution, what democracy and freedom was about. And now a federal judge has said that NSA data collection was unconstitutional." Snowden, who revealed classified NSA documents to reporters in 2013, is a fugitive from US prosecutors, living on a temporary visa in Russia, another nation he has criticised for its approach to privacy. The judgement Wozniak refers to is that of a federal court in New York, which earlier this month found Section 215 of the US Patriot Act, which authorised the mass surveillance programmes exposed by Snowden, to be insufficient grounds for justifying the NSA's collection of domestic communications data. "So he's a hero to me, because he gave up his own life to do it," says Wozniak. "And he was a young person, to give up his life. But he did it for reasons of trying to help the rest of us and not just mess up a company he didn't like."
And "Woz" is equally approachable for normal people. He speaks passionately about everything and does not appear to edit himself. When we start to talk about privacy and I ask him whether he thinks NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is a hero or a villain his answer is prompt and unabashed.
"Total hero to me; total hero," he gushes. "Not necessarily [for] what he exposed, but the fact that he internally came from his own heart, his own belief in the United States Constitution, what democracy and freedom was about. And now a federal judge has said that NSA data collection was unconstitutional."
Snowden, who revealed classified NSA documents to reporters in 2013, is a fugitive from US prosecutors, living on a temporary visa in Russia, another nation he has criticised for its approach to privacy. The judgement Wozniak refers to is that of a federal court in New York, which earlier this month found Section 215 of the US Patriot Act, which authorised the mass surveillance programmes exposed by Snowden, to be insufficient grounds for justifying the NSA's collection of domestic communications data.
"So he's a hero to me, because he gave up his own life to do it," says Wozniak. "And he was a young person, to give up his life. But he did it for reasons of trying to help the rest of us and not just mess up a company he didn't like."
Read more @ http://www.arabianbusiness.com/steve-wozniak-us-would-look-like-dubai-if-it-didn-t-spend-all-its-money-on-military--593703.html#.VWUvbUbdfxJ
Edward Snowden's impact on how we look at security and privacy cannot be understated. Even today, years later, we're still learning more and more about the extent of government surveillance. He has fundamentally changed how we look at and talk about the internet. Given his knowledge of how the world wide web works, surely he must've seen this coming.
Edward Snowden's impact on how we look at security and privacy cannot be understated. Even today, years later, we're still learning more and more about the extent of government surveillance. He has fundamentally changed how we look at and talk about the internet.
Given his knowledge of how the world wide web works, surely he must've seen this coming.
Read more @ http://www.theverge.com/tldr/2015/5/21/8638361/edward-snowden-meme
He talked about Rand Paul, too In case you were curious, Edward Snowden still enjoys pizza in Russia. “Do you miss pizza? Favorite thing about Russia so far? If you could be an insect, which would you be and why?” a Reddit user asked Snowden in a recent AMA, or “Ask Me Anything.” Snowden’s response was short and sweet: “This guy gets it. Russia has Papa John’s. For real.” But Snowden also took the opportunity to answer questions on more serious subjects. After all, the conversation was centered around Section 215 of the Patriot Act. That’s one section Snowden brought to the public’s attention in 2013 when he leaked information about the NSA’s telephone records collection program. Snowden took the AMA opportunity to respond to a question about Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster against the Patriot Act. Snowden wrote: It represents a sea change from a few years ago, when intrusive new surveillance laws were passed without any kind of meaningful opposition or debate. Whatever you think about Rand Paul or his politics, it’s important to remember that when he took the floor to say “No” to any length of reauthorization of the Patriot Act, he was speaking for the majority of Americans — more than 60% of whom want to see this kind of mass surveillance reformed or ended. Snowden conducted the Reddit conversation along with Jameel Jaffer, the deputy legal director of the ACLU.
In case you were curious, Edward Snowden still enjoys pizza in Russia.
“Do you miss pizza? Favorite thing about Russia so far? If you could be an insect, which would you be and why?” a Reddit user asked Snowden in a recent AMA, or “Ask Me Anything.” Snowden’s response was short and sweet: “This guy gets it. Russia has Papa John’s. For real.”
But Snowden also took the opportunity to answer questions on more serious subjects. After all, the conversation was centered around Section 215 of the Patriot Act. That’s one section Snowden brought to the public’s attention in 2013 when he leaked information about the NSA’s telephone records collection program.
Snowden took the AMA opportunity to respond to a question about Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster against the Patriot Act. Snowden wrote:
It represents a sea change from a few years ago, when intrusive new surveillance laws were passed without any kind of meaningful opposition or debate. Whatever you think about Rand Paul or his politics, it’s important to remember that when he took the floor to say “No” to any length of reauthorization of the Patriot Act, he was speaking for the majority of Americans — more than 60% of whom want to see this kind of mass surveillance reformed or ended.
Snowden conducted the Reddit conversation along with Jameel Jaffer, the deputy legal director of the ACLU.
Read more @ http://time.com/3892891/edward-snowden-pizza/
In an exclusive interview from Moscow, Snowden cautions that more needs to be done to curb NSA surveillance two years after his disclosures Edward Snowden has hailed landmark shifts in Congress and the US courts on NSA surveillance but cautioned that much more needs to be done to restore the balance in favour of privacy. He also warned this was only the beginning of reform of the NSA, saying there are still many bulk collection programmes which are “even more intrusive”, but expressed hope that the Senate would act to curb the NSA, saying retention of the status quo is untenable. In an hour-long interview with the Guardian in Moscow, the NSA whistleblower said the moves by the federal court and the House of Representatives marked the first time since the 1970s there had been a reduction rather than expansion in the powers of the surveillance agencies. “In our modern era, that is without precedent,” he said.
In an exclusive interview from Moscow, Snowden cautions that more needs to be done to curb NSA surveillance two years after his disclosures
Edward Snowden has hailed landmark shifts in Congress and the US courts on NSA surveillance but cautioned that much more needs to be done to restore the balance in favour of privacy.
He also warned this was only the beginning of reform of the NSA, saying there are still many bulk collection programmes which are “even more intrusive”, but expressed hope that the Senate would act to curb the NSA, saying retention of the status quo is untenable.
In an hour-long interview with the Guardian in Moscow, the NSA whistleblower said the moves by the federal court and the House of Representatives marked the first time since the 1970s there had been a reduction rather than expansion in the powers of the surveillance agencies.
“In our modern era, that is without precedent,” he said.
Read more @ http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/22/edward-snowden-nsa-reform
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speaks exclusively to the Guardian about why he's working harder now than ever before; how good it feels to be a 'small part of something important'; and why he believes there is still so much more he wants to accomplish. In regards to people's privacy, he argues that it is about more than just changing laws and systems, but actually people's values
Watch the video @ http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/may/22/edward-snowden-work-not-finished-video
Watch the video @ http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/may/22/edward-snowden-rights-to-privacy-video
Right or wrong, the leaks of classified information by Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley) shook things up. Some people look at what Mr. Snowden did and call him a traitor, others a modern day Daniel Ellsberg – a hero of free speech and democracy. The debate is highly polarized. One thing most people can agree on is that, at a more abstract level, the very possibility of having whistleblowers is a good thing. When government actions are excessive, abusive, or just outright wrong, it is comforting to know there could be whistleblowers with the courage and opportunity to stand up and call a spade a spade. Free and democratic societies need the possibility of whistleblowers. Unfortunately, Mr. Snowden and Ms. Manning might be the last whistleblowers of this generation – if not longer. Why, you might ask? The answer is simple: big data. Big data is the aggregation of everything we do online. It includes everything we search for, view, chuckle at and share online. Big data also increasingly includes information collected by the Internet of Things (IoT), which tracks our movements, health and habits. Taking all this information together paints a tremendously accurate picture of what a person is like, where they go, who they associate with, and, most extraordinarily, what they are likely to do. Herein lies the problem for the possibility of whistleblowing. As recently as 2014, employees and external contractors for the U.S. government who received “secret clearance” were subject to a reinvestigation every 10 years. Even those with “top-secret clearance” were investigated only every five years. Plenty can change within five years and even more in 10, including someone’s willingness to keep government secrets.
Right or wrong, the leaks of classified information by Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley) shook things up. Some people look at what Mr. Snowden did and call him a traitor, others a modern day Daniel Ellsberg – a hero of free speech and democracy. The debate is highly polarized.
One thing most people can agree on is that, at a more abstract level, the very possibility of having whistleblowers is a good thing. When government actions are excessive, abusive, or just outright wrong, it is comforting to know there could be whistleblowers with the courage and opportunity to stand up and call a spade a spade. Free and democratic societies need the possibility of whistleblowers.
Unfortunately, Mr. Snowden and Ms. Manning might be the last whistleblowers of this generation – if not longer. Why, you might ask? The answer is simple: big data.
Big data is the aggregation of everything we do online. It includes everything we search for, view, chuckle at and share online. Big data also increasingly includes information collected by the Internet of Things (IoT), which tracks our movements, health and habits. Taking all this information together paints a tremendously accurate picture of what a person is like, where they go, who they associate with, and, most extraordinarily, what they are likely to do.
Herein lies the problem for the possibility of whistleblowing. As recently as 2014, employees and external contractors for the U.S. government who received “secret clearance” were subject to a reinvestigation every 10 years. Even those with “top-secret clearance” were investigated only every five years. Plenty can change within five years and even more in 10, including someone’s willingness to keep government secrets.
Read more @ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/why-edward-snowden-may-be-the-last-whistleblower/article24541171/
Magna Carta is regarded as one of the foundation documents of western democracy, and its 800th birthday is coming up next month. That's what prompted prize-winning artist Cornelia Parker to recruit some famous names, including Edward Snowden, to celebrate the creation of the document in a very unique way. Rather than re-create the original document, Parker decided to go off in a slightly different direction, by hand-stitching a version of the Wikipedia page on the topic. Sorry, what? Yes, the 13-meter long piece is a faithful recreation of the Wikipedia page on Magna Carta, as it looked at some point in 2014. The majority of the piece was handmade by UK prisoners on rehabilitation programs, but notable names from other fields were asked to contribute as well. In addition to Edward Snowden, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange added words, the latter opting for "freedom" for some reason. Magna Carta (An Embroidery) will be on show at the British Library in London until July 24th, after which point we hope that Parker gets on with a sequel piece recording the arguments buried on the Talk page.
Magna Carta is regarded as one of the foundation documents of western democracy, and its 800th birthday is coming up next month. That's what prompted prize-winning artist Cornelia Parker to recruit some famous names, including Edward Snowden, to celebrate the creation of the document in a very unique way. Rather than re-create the original document, Parker decided to go off in a slightly different direction, by hand-stitching a version of the Wikipedia page on the topic. Sorry, what?
Yes, the 13-meter long piece is a faithful recreation of the Wikipedia page on Magna Carta, as it looked at some point in 2014. The majority of the piece was handmade by UK prisoners on rehabilitation programs, but notable names from other fields were asked to contribute as well. In addition to Edward Snowden, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange added words, the latter opting for "freedom" for some reason. Magna Carta (An Embroidery) will be on show at the British Library in London until July 24th, after which point we hope that Parker gets on with a sequel piece recording the arguments buried on the Talk page.
Read more @ http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/18/edward-snowden-magna-carta-embroidery/
The US National Security Agency and its international allies, including Britain's GCHQ, plotted to infect Android smartphones by hijacking their connection to the Google Play store and secretly harvest information about phone users in France and North Africa. New documents released by former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal the government agency's plan, codenamed Irritant Horn, was discussed by intelligence alliance the so-called Five Eyes countries (the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia) between November 2011 and February 2012. Published by The Intercept, the documents reveal plans for a system which targets the smartphone app stores of both Samsung and Google. The NSA pinpointed the Google Play servers in France, used to send software updates to Android handsets in northern Africa. Once located, the agency planned to intercept traffic before it reached Google's servers and inject malware into the phones of targets accessing the Play Store, known as a man-in-the-middle attack. Having gained access to the target's phone, the NSA could then call on a number of its surveillance and hacking programmes to read their contacts list and call logs, or monitor their location in almost real-time, while the target had no idea they were being spied on. And despite both Samsung and Google encrypting the connections between their servers and users' phones, the NSA was able to break through this undetected. Through documents previously leaked by Snowden, it was known that the NSA had developed spyware for iPhone and Android handsets which could steal emails, text messages, web history, call logs, videos, photos and other files stored on the device; but until now it was unclear how this software was installed onto targets' phones.
The US National Security Agency and its international allies, including Britain's GCHQ, plotted to infect Android smartphones by hijacking their connection to the Google Play store and secretly harvest information about phone users in France and North Africa.
New documents released by former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal the government agency's plan, codenamed Irritant Horn, was discussed by intelligence alliance the so-called Five Eyes countries (the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia) between November 2011 and February 2012.
Published by The Intercept, the documents reveal plans for a system which targets the smartphone app stores of both Samsung and Google. The NSA pinpointed the Google Play servers in France, used to send software updates to Android handsets in northern Africa.
Once located, the agency planned to intercept traffic before it reached Google's servers and inject malware into the phones of targets accessing the Play Store, known as a man-in-the-middle attack.
Having gained access to the target's phone, the NSA could then call on a number of its surveillance and hacking programmes to read their contacts list and call logs, or monitor their location in almost real-time, while the target had no idea they were being spied on. And despite both Samsung and Google encrypting the connections between their servers and users' phones, the NSA was able to break through this undetected.
Through documents previously leaked by Snowden, it was known that the NSA had developed spyware for iPhone and Android handsets which could steal emails, text messages, web history, call logs, videos, photos and other files stored on the device; but until now it was unclear how this software was installed onto targets' phones.
Read more @ http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/edward-snowden-nsa-plotted-hack-google-play-store-users-irritant-horn-spyware-1502482
If time heals all wounds, then Edward Snowden needs more time to get right in Washington. Snowden is exiled in Russia, having been charged with espionage and no sign that President Barack Obama will grant him clemency. On Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul launched a long floor speech hoping to end the bulk data collection programs that Snowden exposed. Most of the bipartisan coalition of senators who aided Paul in relief did so while promoting a bill that would end one of the programs — the one collecting telephone metadata. And a few weeks ago, a federal court ruled the program violated the law. But still, Snowden still sits alone. No senators on Wednesday said their perception of the former National Security Agency contractor had softened or changed since he two years ago leaked to the media data exposing the scope of the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs. Comments around the Senate ranged from outright contempt to calling him a criminal whose actions may have led to some good. But no one defended him. “[Edward] Snowden is not a hero,” said Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “He was enormously disruptive to the national security of the United States of America. He is not a whistleblower. I have nothing but contempt for [him].” Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, said nothing has changed in how he views Snowden; he “had negative thoughts in the beginning, and I have negative thoughts today.” Even the Senate’s sponsor and co-sponsor of a bill that would end the telephone metadata program held a hard line on Snowden. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said flatly that he didn’t condone breaking the law, and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., agreed, but urged the Senate to act on eliminating the program anyway. “I think the House reflected what the American public wants,” Leahy said, referring to earlier this month when the House approved the companion bill, 338-88. “And I think we ought to do the same.” Even those who note the complexity in determining Snowden’s legacy refer to the illegality of his actions and the potential effect on national security. Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate’s second highest ranking Democrat, said it’s not a “simple calculation.” Durbin noted Snowden’s revelations led to a “serious assessment to some of our intelligence objectives,” but that the whole thing started with Snowden “violating his oath and endangering innocent people.” Snowden actually did some senators a favor. In 2011, many senators voted against reauthorization of the Patriot Act due to what at the time was vague privacy concerns over certain programs. Of course, senators had to be vague because their concerns were about classified programs.
If time heals all wounds, then Edward Snowden needs more time to get right in Washington.
Snowden is exiled in Russia, having been charged with espionage and no sign that President Barack Obama will grant him clemency.
On Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul launched a long floor speech hoping to end the bulk data collection programs that Snowden exposed. Most of the bipartisan coalition of senators who aided Paul in relief did so while promoting a bill that would end one of the programs — the one collecting telephone metadata. And a few weeks ago, a federal court ruled the program violated the law.
But still, Snowden still sits alone. No senators on Wednesday said their perception of the former National Security Agency contractor had softened or changed since he two years ago leaked to the media data exposing the scope of the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs.
Comments around the Senate ranged from outright contempt to calling him a criminal whose actions may have led to some good. But no one defended him.
“[Edward] Snowden is not a hero,” said Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “He was enormously disruptive to the national security of the United States of America. He is not a whistleblower. I have nothing but contempt for [him].”
Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, said nothing has changed in how he views Snowden; he “had negative thoughts in the beginning, and I have negative thoughts today.”
Even the Senate’s sponsor and co-sponsor of a bill that would end the telephone metadata program held a hard line on Snowden. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said flatly that he didn’t condone breaking the law, and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., agreed, but urged the Senate to act on eliminating the program anyway.
“I think the House reflected what the American public wants,” Leahy said, referring to earlier this month when the House approved the companion bill, 338-88. “And I think we ought to do the same.”
Even those who note the complexity in determining Snowden’s legacy refer to the illegality of his actions and the potential effect on national security.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate’s second highest ranking Democrat, said it’s not a “simple calculation.” Durbin noted Snowden’s revelations led to a “serious assessment to some of our intelligence objectives,” but that the whole thing started with Snowden “violating his oath and endangering innocent people.”
Snowden actually did some senators a favor. In 2011, many senators voted against reauthorization of the Patriot Act due to what at the time was vague privacy concerns over certain programs. Of course, senators had to be vague because their concerns were about classified programs.
Read more @ http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/as-many-standwithrand-edward-snowden-sits-alone/?dcz=
The US government is shutting down its surveillance program that collects the telephone records of millions of citizens after the Senate recessed early Saturday morning without renewing its authorisation. Winding down the program, a move that President Barack Obama's administration has warned will increase the risk of a terrorist attack on the US, is necessary after the Senate failed before going a one-week break to reach agreement on a White House-backed bill to extend expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act, an administration official said in an e-mail. Without a legislative deal, Section 215 of the Patriot Act and two other anti-terror programs are set to expire at 12:01am on June 1. The government has used Section 215, approved after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the US, to collect records from companies in support of counter-terrorism investigations, including details about phone calls.
The US government is shutting down its surveillance program that collects the telephone records of millions of citizens after the Senate recessed early Saturday morning without renewing its authorisation.
Winding down the program, a move that President Barack Obama's administration has warned will increase the risk of a terrorist attack on the US, is necessary after the Senate failed before going a one-week break to reach agreement on a White House-backed bill to extend expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act, an administration official said in an e-mail.
Without a legislative deal, Section 215 of the Patriot Act and two other anti-terror programs are set to expire at 12:01am on June 1. The government has used Section 215, approved after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the US, to collect records from companies in support of counter-terrorism investigations, including details about phone calls.
Read more @ http://www.afr.com/technology/web/security/us-shuts-down-nsa-telephone-data-program-20150523-gh8ahi
Senate Republican leaders managed to scrape up enough votes just past midnight Saturday morning to put off decisive action on the NSA’s bulk collection of American phone records until next Sunday, May 31. But the hardliners — and make no mistake, they are taking an even harder and more absurd line than the NSA itself — have no endgame. Only two outcomes are possible at this point: First, three provisions of the Patriot Act — one of which has provided the legal cover for bulk collection — expire on June 1. (Indeed, the Obama administration has already begun the process of winding it down.) Or second, the Senate passes the USA Freedom Act, which extends those provisions but requires the NSA to request specific records from telecom companies, instead of getting them all. Fifty-seven senators, only three short of the necessary 60, voted Saturday to invoke cloture and limit debate on the reform bill, itself a milquetoast compromise that won overwhelming bipartisan support in the House. Nothing else has the votes, certainly not a blanket renewal of the Patriot Act, now that the world actually knows how it’s being misused, thanks to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., led a very public yet essentially meaningless quasi-filibuster against the Patriot Act last Wednesday. But early Saturday morning, he and two Democrats — Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico — followed that up with a series of devastatingly effective objections that blocked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s attempt to extend the authorities to June 8, then to June 5, then to June 3, then to June 2. But why are McConnell and his gang “playing chicken,” as White House press secretary put it on Friday? Why create, as Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., accurately called it, a “manufactured crisis“? Anybody paying attention knows it’s not a policy debate. The reasons McConnell and others cite for wanting to extend the program as is — despite the fact that it’s flatly illegal, essentially useless, and spectacularly invasive — are laughable. In fact, the compromise they’re willing to fight to the death to oppose was actually proposed by the NSA. The issue is they just don’t want Snowden officially vindicated, by an act of Congress. Ever since 9/11, the GOP has found huge political gain in exploiting national security fears. And ever since Obama’s election, they have pursued a singularly successful campaign of obstruction, by making Congress almost entirely dysfunctional.
Senate Republican leaders managed to scrape up enough votes just past midnight Saturday morning to put off decisive action on the NSA’s bulk collection of American phone records until next Sunday, May 31.
But the hardliners — and make no mistake, they are taking an even harder and more absurd line than the NSA itself — have no endgame.
Only two outcomes are possible at this point:
First, three provisions of the Patriot Act — one of which has provided the legal cover for bulk collection — expire on June 1. (Indeed, the Obama administration has already begun the process of winding it down.)
Or second, the Senate passes the USA Freedom Act, which extends those provisions but requires the NSA to request specific records from telecom companies, instead of getting them all.
Fifty-seven senators, only three short of the necessary 60, voted Saturday to invoke cloture and limit debate on the reform bill, itself a milquetoast compromise that won overwhelming bipartisan support in the House. Nothing else has the votes, certainly not a blanket renewal of the Patriot Act, now that the world actually knows how it’s being misused, thanks to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., led a very public yet essentially meaningless quasi-filibuster against the Patriot Act last Wednesday. But early Saturday morning, he and two Democrats — Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico — followed that up with a series of devastatingly effective objections that blocked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s attempt to extend the authorities to June 8, then to June 5, then to June 3, then to June 2.
But why are McConnell and his gang “playing chicken,” as White House press secretary put it on Friday? Why create, as Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., accurately called it, a “manufactured crisis“?
Anybody paying attention knows it’s not a policy debate. The reasons McConnell and others cite for wanting to extend the program as is — despite the fact that it’s flatly illegal, essentially useless, and spectacularly invasive — are laughable. In fact, the compromise they’re willing to fight to the death to oppose was actually proposed by the NSA.
The issue is they just don’t want Snowden officially vindicated, by an act of Congress.
Ever since 9/11, the GOP has found huge political gain in exploiting national security fears. And ever since Obama’s election, they have pursued a singularly successful campaign of obstruction, by making Congress almost entirely dysfunctional.
Read more @ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/26/mitch-mcconnell-will-just-anything-vindicate-edward-snowden/
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