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Is Obama Lying About Big Brother?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/07/2013 12:36 -0400

As of this moment, Obama is making the case that the US government is not eavesdropping on phone calls. Specifically, he said "nobody is listening to your phone calls - they are just looking at phone numbers and duration of calls" and concluded that the NSA was only engaged in "modest encroachments." It was unclear if that clarification was meant to put to rest fears that Big Brother has made personal privacy a thing of the past. He further went on to add that the telephone surveillance program is fully vetted by Congress and supervised by the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA). In other words: Obama is making the case that the NSA's Big Brother supervision is perfectly legal and not only that, there are checks and balances and neither the telephonic snooping nor the internet supervision is anything to be concerned about. There is one problem: Obama is lying.

Back in April 2009, three months into the Obama regime, none other than the NSA admitted it has overstepped its legal boundaries. As the NYT reported: "The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews. "

NYT goes on:

Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in “overcollection” of domestic communications of Americans. They described the practice as significant and systemic, although one official said it was believed to have been unintentional.

The Justice Department, in response to inquiries from The New York Times, acknowledged Wednesday night that there had been problems with the N.S.A. surveillance operation, but said they had been resolved.

As part of a periodic review of the agency’s activities, the department “detected issues that raised concerns,” it said. Justice Department officials then “took comprehensive steps to correct the situation and bring the program into compliance” with the law and court orders, the statement said. It added that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. went to the national security court to seek a renewal of the surveillance program only after new safeguards were put in place.

The same Eric Holder who is currently being investigated for perjury before congress. As for "compliance" 4 years later it seems nothing has changed.

As for Obama's clear conscience:

The legal and operational problems surrounding the N.S.A.’s surveillance activities have come under scrutiny from the Obama administration, Congressional intelligence committees and a secret national security court, said the intelligence officials, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because N.S.A. activities are classified. Classified government briefings have been held in recent weeks in response to a brewing controversy that some officials worry could damage the credibility of legitimate intelligence-gathering efforts.

Well thank god the most transparent administration held classified briefings to discuss the biggest government espionage program ever conceived. One may have gotten ideas otherwise...

Finally, on Obama's pinky swear that it is only foreigners' emails and iMessages that are being intercepted, turns out he is lying here too:

In recent weeks, the eavesdropping agency notified members of the Congressional intelligence committees that it had encountered operational and legal problems in complying with the new wiretapping law, Congressional officials said.

Officials would not discuss details of the overcollection problem because it involves classified intelligence-gathering techniques. But the issue appears focused in part on technical problems in the N.S.A.’s ability at times to distinguish between communications inside the United States and those overseas as it uses its access to American telecommunications companies’ fiber-optic lines and its own spy satellites to intercept millions of calls and e-mail messages.

And so on.

In short: what difference does it make - it is only the stripping of the most fundamental privacy rights of US citizens! And how else can you build a totalitarian government if you don't give up some freedoms - good heavens, one can't ask the poor president to provide 100% security without experiencing some "inconvenience" and handing over a little privacy. Or a lot.

In the end, let's not forget what really matters: the NSA spying program is from the government, and it is here to help you.

* * *

Finally, here is Matt Damon explaining why he wouldn't work for the NSA:

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Fri, 06/07/2013 - 23:29 | 3636352 newengland

An oath is inviolable. Ask the dead soldiers. No forgiveness for this nazionist O'bomba, and CONgress, and central banksters, and nazionists, and their apologists.

Money is 24/7, color blind, global. Good.

Buy physical gold, silver, land, and stay close to genuine community.

Fri, 06/07/2013 - 23:19 | 3636340 Steel Magnolia

DHS insider: It’s about to get very ugly - http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/55749 …

Fri, 06/07/2013 - 23:34 | 3636375 One World Mafia

Harder to think of when he told the truth.

Fri, 06/07/2013 - 23:48 | 3636410 UGrev

This post should have just stopped at "Is Obama Lying" .. didn't need any further text in the title nor ANY body of content with the exception of the word "Yes".

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 00:13 | 3636467 Burr's 2nd Shot

Yes.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 00:24 | 3636484 Steel Magnolia

DOJ & FBI Raid News Media Offices After Releasing an Alarming Story on President Obama! http://nationalreport.net/doj-fbi-raid-news-media-offices-after-releasin... …

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 00:42 | 3636512 Irene

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - FISA

It doesn't say foreign and domestic.

Total bullshit.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 00:43 | 3636513 Bear

"We are not lying ... We are gathering the facts ... When I know what happened I will let you know" ... Lying No Way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UTFjxxFL4WE

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 00:55 | 3636527 newengland

Why shouldn't I work for the NSA?

See that video clip again, commenters. Reflect on why Americans keep voting for the same bull$hit, and sending better men to war for nazionism, the NSA which now upsets the complacent types.

The 'progressive' hippy dude 60s generation are smug, venal, and their children should read the poem 'First they came'.

This Republic is betrayed by complacency, and nazionists who feed off that including its NSA.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 00:57 | 3636531 Boxed Merlot

As for Obama's clear conscience: Taqiyya and Kitman

Cognitive Dissonance is a religious artform being perfected since the 7th century. He just one of the most public practitioners alive today.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:10 | 3636552 g'kar

If only the press covered more of what you said. Thank you.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:37 | 3636569 newengland

Islamists are the new jews; something to be used and abused by Rockefeller globalists allied to nazionist Rothschild international financiers et al; names like Oppenheimer, Warburg, Bayer and their clique who choose which political face to put on their hateful monopolist mask.

Al-CIAda is their latest invention.

End the Fed.

End the monarchy.

End the Vatican.

The world's 3 greater haters, warmongers, monopolists. Psychopaths.

They use the people of the Book to divide and rule.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 00:57 | 3636534 Clowns on Acid

Google, FacePlant, Yahoo, etc... have effectively been nationalized.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:07 | 3636547 g'kar

The NSA should concentrate on the phone calls, visited websites and emails of those in Washington DC if they really want to find terrorist and un-American activities. It's all enabled from the top down.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:22 | 3636560 Curt W

I am surprised that this was not more widely known.

I thought it was werid that only I was worried about this.

I lived in Salt Lake City in 2009, and had zero doubts about what that giant computer farm was for.

Nice to see the main stream media to shake off some of the magic dust, and report actual news.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:34 | 3636571 newengland

ZH is alternative media, not the main scream media. Just a thought.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:35 | 3636573 HalinCA

Oh sweet jesuz ZH-ers ... like you're virgins or something? Get a grip.

If we won't proflie likely terrorists, what else besides massive database corelation search algos do we have?

NOTHING. Marines? Drones? Not likely, not without a true police state ...

This is the best we can hope for unless we are willing to live in the reality [as opposed to the illusion?] of a police/free state.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:45 | 3636577 newengland

O'bomba says 'if you want 100% security' etc.

I don't.

Trade liberty for such security and lose both, said Jefferson and Franklin.

Hollywood is a pet of international finance, so is the NSA, so is war whereby patriots die sincerely, and deserve to be defended at home, our Republic, not this shameless sham of a 'democracy', CONgress that justifies torture, invasion of privacy and every other nazionist thing, all for what?

For you to feel safe, so that others are abused and die for you; soldiers, especially.

There is something very wrong about precious pets of politics sat happy and fat in their pretty place while others spend blood and treasure, lost on behalf of the complacent who excuse the abuse of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 09:24 | 3636877 Catullus

How about human intelligence? You spy on people. You have informants. You infiltrate organizations. You subvert an operation in its infancy.

But US intelligence is ignorant and so despised around the world that no one cooperates.

So instead of targeting people who wish to harm the US, they cast the widest net possible and they have no hope of analyzing the data in real time. What they are doing is INEFFECTIVE at its most benign.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:47 | 3636581 Walt D.

In New York City - Big Nanny is watching you.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 01:51 | 3636582 newengland

In London, Europe, and most of the world: Big Brother State abuses more with impunity.

Nazionist Bloomberg is a nuisance. New Yawkers deal with him. The silly bitch thinks he is important. The BIS says he isn't.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 07:09 | 3636728 Apostate2

I live in a communist country. Take for granted the nanny is watching. Do I care? No. Just speak truth to power. I have no fear. Just keep the faith that the statists will like King Kong, fail from the inside.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 03:01 | 3636638 pcrs

My eavesdropping program is fully approaved by my government and properly supervised by my governement.

No worries then, chinese walls

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 03:10 | 3636644 OldPhart

I don't know if I've told this story to Zero Hedge (probably did, but I'm getting old and we tend to retell our stories).

In 2007 my son was on his fifth year in Afghanistan. He's a contractor for the DOD. He does 'communications'. Bush and Condi Rice both offered him White House positions but he admitted that his mouth would get him shot.

At the time we were still pretty gung-ho on getting Al Queda, Bin Laden, and I was definitely still comatose as the definitive sheep.

During his early years there he was asked to open a couple of red folders and participate in a couple of missions.

On one of them he called me via his cell phone. He was checking to see if it was possible from his location via the cell tower he had built somewhere else. In the background was occasional gunfire. He asked if I was on the computer and I said I was. He said to open up my ms-messenger account and wait a bit. Then he hung up.

He popped up in my messenger chat. "Hay, Luke" (He calls me Luke because he thinks I'm Jedi knight...don't know why).

We chat back and forth a bit. He describes that he's in the field and he's testing a laptop hooked to a cellphone to get on the internet. To me it seemed like he McGyvered some shit and it worked. He said he didn't have much going on now that he had a successful connection and we continued to chat.

The chat turned a bit more political and he was bitching about the hadji body odor. Anyway, I opined the following:

"We should be dropping nukes, starting in Syria, one every ten miles apart, and march them East through Iran."

A new chat box popped up with 'NSAGUY'.

"Sir, you can't say that sort of thing where anyone can see it."

I was a bit stunned for a moment. They were watching our conversation, reading our idle chat live, and letting me know it.

I got pissed.

"I'm American, in the United States, and I'll say what I think, the way I want, any fucking time I want. Fuck you!"

'NSAGUY' didn't answer, and I haven't seen anything similar since (now my son has eleven years in Afghanistan [Due home on Monday for vacation!]).

But I've assumed ever since that everything I do online is monitored. But it wasn't until 2008 that I finally woke up (due to the various bail outs...I'm a heavy sleeper), got radicalized and began to post old man rants.

That's when I embraced the idea that I was monitored (I suppose, at least, from time to time) and revelled in it.

Remember Obama's flag@whitehouse.gov campaign where people were supposed to drop an email note about suspicious people in the neighborhood? I forwarded every piece of junkmail and every filthy joke shared after adding a variety of key words...bomb, tactical, strike, agent, chem and, when the list was published, all the rest.

When Wikileaks occured my son informed me that not only he, but his immediate family, was banned from going to the Wikileaks site or he would lose his extremely high security clearance and his job, I was pretty fucking pissed. Until a couple days later when the video was mirrored all over the net.

I didn't go to Wikileaks, so fuck you NSA.

Naturally I shared the mirrored video with the then thousand or so friends I had on facebook (old man rants seem sort of popular). And I've built a list of media sites that I read every night and post what I consider interesting links related to the rise of the American Gestapo and the new police state.

I'm nobody special, but they know who I am, where I am, what I do, who my family is, and who my connections are. I do not fear terrorists, nor do I fear the Gestapo. I have anger, rage perhaps, not fear.

Come and fucking get me, pussies.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 07:44 | 3636729 Setarcos

Welcome aboard.

Next step, if you haven't already done it, is to get stuck in to 9/11 and especially WTC7 ... see: http://www.ae911truth.org/ particularly.

I recently watched a YouTube video of a retired US General, who explained what a struggle he had accepting that the government he had served was SO corrupt and complicit in 9/11.

I can't find the video off-hand, but maybe you will take my word for it - and come across it - if you start exploring what is abundantly available on YT.

BTW I hope that you have given up your desire to nuke the ME, after all Saddam Hussein did not have WMD, Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11 and 19 box-cutter-wielding non-pilots did not hijack any planes, let alone crash two into WTC1 & 2, plus a supposed third which 'hit' the Pentagon, plus a fourth which disappeared without trace at Shanksville.

Meanwhile WTC7 collapsed at free-fall acceleration, though not being hit by a plane at all (officially admitted) nor having any significant fires.

All rather strange, eh? But your son is at war because of 9/11 and your hatred of people in the ME was/is your indoctrination by your government, enabled through the MSM.

You'll be lucky if your son comes back in one piece, whether physically or mentally.

It's Vietnam-all-over-again, as soon as the current generation realize that they have fought wars for lies.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 03:28 | 3636652 Bloodstock

Let's just bore them til they scream.

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 03:43 | 3636659 Bluecaper

Obama: If you can’t trust government to follow the Constitution while spying, we’re going to have some problems.

Hours later:
Report: DOJ engaged in unconstitutional spying.

The Justice Department violated the spirit of federal surveillance laws by using procedures unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Now the government is blocking release of that FISA court ruling - a scenario described as Kafkaesque.