by Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Imperator David Griffin
Not only did the NSA illegally spy on the American people...They deliberately concealed the truth as well. When asked point blank about this, the Director of National Intelligence lied even to Congress.
On March 12th, 2013, during a United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, Senator Ron Wyden asked Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper the following question:
"Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?"Director Clapper responded "No, sir."Incredulously, Senator Wyden asked "It does not?"Director Clapper responded: "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertantly perhaps collect, but not wittingly."
So that Director Clapper would be prepared to answer, Senator Wyden gave these questions to Clapper's office a day in advance of the hearing. Upon the hearing's completion, he also gave the Director a chance to amend his answer. He opted not to do so.
Then - on June 6th, 2013, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to the world that the NSA was indeed engaged in a secret program that was collecting tens of millions of Americans' phone call records. The American people was finally able to break through the wall of NSA lies and deceit. For this we owe a debt of gratitude to Edward Snowden.
Further revelations would unveil NSA programs collecting Americans' web browsing histories, chat logs, email usage and even their physical locations! The NSA had been illegally collecting data on hundreds of millions of law abiding Americans, and continues to do so today.
James Clapper later apologized to Congress in a letter, saying his answer was "clearly erroneous."
In reality, the National Intelligence Director's answer to Congress was "clearly a lie." He should, in fact, be tried for perjury.
In reality, the National Intelligence Director's answer to Congress was "clearly a lie." He should, in fact, be tried for perjury.
How can the American people place our trust in an intelligence community that has shown such contempt for the rule of law that it has illegally spied on us for over a decade, lied to Congress about it, and likely continues to do so today in every arena where they didn't get caught yet?
This week Americans won a small victory in the struggle against abusive spying when the "USA Freedom Act" was signed into law, prohibiting the NSA from continuing to vacuume up all metadata of all phone calls of all Americans, and requiring individualised warrants to access such data from phone companies.
This is a step in the right direction, but it does not go nearly far enough. On February 23, for example, NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers squared off against top security experts from the tech industry, in a series of exchanges about giving government built-in access to the encrypted data of tech firms’ customers. Law enforcement and intelligence officials claim they need such access, via so-called “back doors” (or front doors), in order to effectively track criminals and foreign spies. How are we to trust they are not already using this to further violate the privacy of American citizens?
In fact, judging by NSA's track record of lies and deceit, we may be certain the NSA today continues - without individual warrants - to improperly vacume up and store vast amounts of Americans' data using cell phone interceptors, backdoors to computer networks on on-line services, and among other things, a world-wide network of street corner surveillance cameras linked with facial recognition software.
All of this continues today - without regard for the Constitution, the privacy rights of American citizens, or even the rule of law.
Today is the second anniversary of the Snowden whistleblower revelations documenting how the trust of the American people is being violated by secret dragnet spying. Truth be told, we have no idea how deep this rabbit hole really goes. In breaking news, only this morning the New York Times reported:
"Without public notice or debate, the Obama administration has expanded the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international Internet traffic."
Are American citizens supposed to just blindly trust such an intelligence community?...The same intelligence community that this week alone has been caught twice carrying out warrantless surveillance of law abiding Americans - with powers kept secret until caught in the act?
On June 3, the same day the USA Freedom Act was signed into law, the Associated Press (here) exposed the FBI using surveillance aircraft over American cities with planes bristling with cameras and cell phone interceptors capable of scooping up vast amounts of American citizens' data.
What is worse - the Associated Press exposed the FBI's use of a host of front companies and dummy corporations, to conceal FBI responsibility for this rape of privacy of American citizens.
What is worse - the Associated Press exposed the FBI's use of a host of front companies and dummy corporations, to conceal FBI responsibility for this rape of privacy of American citizens.
Suchotal surveillance is a tyrant's dream. But in America, we do not live in tyranny - at least we are not supposed to. As Americans, we have a reasonable expectation of privacy guaranteed by the Constitution. This expectation of privacy has been rendered moot by rampant secret intrusions in our lives by an out of control intelligence community.
What do NSA head, Michael Rogers, and Gestapo head, Heinrich Himler, have in common? Each one of these men preside or presided over the world's most intrusive spy network.
Should we blindly trust either of these men?
No. We should not.
No. We should not.
Instead, we should reclaim our right to privacy that was paid for with the blood of our forefathers. We must ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy the the fruits of liberty.
A primary reason the American revolution was fought was to end British soldiers' intrusions in the homes of countless Americans using general warrants. Today, the NSA and the FBI again use the same general warrants to rape the privacy rights of millions of law abiding Americans.
The faith and trust of the American people in our government has been seriously eroded by such travesties, together with lies and deception from our intelligence community. If America is to survive as a nation, the faith and trust of the American people must be fully restored. For this to occur, mass surveillance without individual warrants must end - not just for telephone metadata - but in every arena of our lives.
Let us recall that...
Let us recall that...
"A People does not exist by virtue of the State.
A State exists by virtue of the People."
And - As history has proven time and time again...without the faith and trust of its people...no State can at length endure.
Sign the petition to end NSA illegal spying HERE.
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