gut;1453224 wrote:Hmmmm, clearly a preventive measure so that Holder could one day use the data to identify who leaked this story to the Guardian.

HitsRus;1453242 wrote:To be fair, this was started under Bush in the wake of 9/11, but has exploded under the Obama administration. Why am I not surprised?

The Obama administration is defending itself against charges it secretly obtained records for Verizon phone calls made in the United States, arguing that the policy is a vital tool in monitoring terrorists and has the approval of “all three branches of government,” according to a senior administration official.

Mulva;1453312 wrote:This story has broken multiple times over the past decade. The NSA is a disgusting entity and the patriot act needs to be repealed, neither of which has changed in the past 10 years.

Hopefully the outrage finally boils over in the mainstream this time.

BoatShoes;1453299 wrote:The worst thing about this, and other investigations going on, is that the DoJ is being given the responsibility to investigate. They clearly have a conflict of interest.

I'm beginning to think there should just be a 4th branch of government...An investigatory branch charged with being a watch dog on the Executive branch. Like, we elect a National Inspector General every 4 years but in the middle of a presidential term and she appoints the Inspector's General for each Executive Agency, etc.

Manhattan Buckeye;1453260 wrote:Is this correct? I know that the Patriot Act allowed government following of flight information (and back in the day, the left wing went NUTS over this), I wasn't aware of actual telephony information gathering.

BGFalcons82;1453326 wrote:Ahem...the bolded is already in place. They used to go by the moniker, "The Fourth Estate", but that was before Barry was elected. Today, they have perfected nutlicking to the point they have lost all of their ability to be independent, search for the truth, and believe that it is their duty to be the people's voice.

derek bomar;1453347 wrote:If they stopped terrorists by doing this, would you want them to stop it? Like, if there was no other way to stop them and they had to do this, would you guys be cool with this? Not saying I like what they're doing (I am actually creeped out by it), but they're always going to play the national security card and it seems obvious that if they have the ability to do something, but don't, and then an attack happens, it will get political (Obama helped the turrists! Bush Lied, People Died!)

BoatShoes;1453345 wrote:Well aside from the hyperbole, I agree really. Conservatives have complained about supposed liberal media incompetency way longer than Barack Obama has been around. Even with the "New Media" that is openly antagonistic to Obama, it is no good if the executive branch's own employees are the one's investigating problems brought to our attention by the New Media.

derek bomar;1453347 wrote:If they stopped terrorists by doing this, would you want them to stop it? Like, if there was no other way to stop them and they had to do this, would you guys be cool with this? Not saying I like what they're doing (I am actually creeped out by it), but they're always going to play the national security card and it seems obvious that if they have the ability to do something, but don't, and then an attack happens, it will get political (Obama helped the turrists! Bush Lied, People Died!)

BGFalcons82;1453379 wrote:Do you know who broke this story? It wasn't the American media. I wonder why reporters from the U.K., a far more socialist country than ours, is doing our Fourth Estate's supposed job?

BoatShoes;1453493 wrote:I agree with what you're saying...but surely there is media in the U.S. that you trust like say the Drudge Report or the Blaze, correct? Even if they broke the story or the Guardian breaks it whatever....it still seems problematic to me that it is going to be the DoJ that does the investigation when they're basically butt buddies with the NSA.