Big Brother... Watching and... Listening... Thank you GWB for the Patriot Act and Homeland Security

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

We can thank the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security (ie: GWB) for the current and nefarious acts by the NSA. However, what the hey, after all it's all in the name of giving up a bit of freedom in the name of a bit more security.

I imagine good and wise Benjamin Franklin must be rolling over in his resting place right about now.

POLITICO - Several lawmakers said they had not been briefed on the Obama administration’s classified programs to monitor cellphone and Internet traffic.

That’s in direct contradiction to President Barack Obama’s assertion. The president said on Friday that “every member of Congress” has been briefed on the programs led by the National Security Administration.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a telephone interview late Friday that he learned about the two programs after requesting a briefing under “classified circumstances” following urging by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Durbin said congressional leadership and intelligence committees had access to information about the programs, but that the “average member” of Congress likely wouldn’t have been aware of the breadth of the telephone and Internet surveillance.

“They don’t receive this kind of briefing,” Durbin said of the congressional rank-and-file.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who has railed against government intrusion on the Senate floor, told POLITICO that he “hadn’t been briefed on this particular issue,” referring to the NSA collection of phone records. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) also said he learned of phone monitoring through news reports, although he said it “wasn’t a surprise.”

“Not quite!” tweeted Rep. Billy Long (R-La.) in response to a tweet by ABC’s Rick Klein that said “Obama says ‘every member of Congress’ has been briefed on phone program #NSA; suggests only intel comm. knew of PRISM.”

The House and Senate intelligence committees, which oversee agencies like the NSA and Central Intelligence Agency, are routinely briefed on classified intelligence operations.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also get briefed, along with intelligence committee chairs and ranking members. Rank-and-file members of Congress, however, are only periodically briefed on specific incidents — there have been briefings recently on Syria and the Boston bombings.

Certainly BIG BROTHER IS watching and listening to us ALL. One of the saddest aspects of the situation is that BOTH the rEpublican and dEmocratic party are involved.

Destined no doubt to pick up steam given our national paranoia. That is my take on the situation. What's yours?

Good night. Rest soundly as BIG BROTHER is watching over and looking out for us all. Don't you feel so much better?

Via: Memeorandum