Gotta Wear Shades

8 Comments

1. 

   Arthur Gilroy on January 24, 2014 at 7:22 pm

   Emphases mine.

   RNC condemns NSA spying in huge turnaround

   01/24/14 01:00 PM–UPDATED 01/24/14 06:00 PM
   By Benjy Sarlin

   In a jarring break from the George W. Bush era, the Republican National Committee voted Friday to adopt a resolution demanding an investigation into the National Security Agency’s spy programs.

   According to the resolution, the NSA metadata program revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is deemed “an invasion into the personal lives of American citizens that violates the right of free speech and association afforded by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.” In addition, “the mass collection and retention of personal data is in itself contrary to the right of privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

   Titled a “Resolution To Renounce The National Security Agency’s Surveillance Program,” it was passed by a voice vote as part of a package of RNC proposals. Not a single member rose to object or call for further debate, as occurred for other resolutions.

   Nevada Committeewoman Diana Orrock told msnbc over the phone that she introduced the resolution at the RNC’s summer meeting, but she wasn’t able to attract the necessary co-sponsors to advance it until now. The only major change she says she made to secure support was to drop the word “unconstitutional” from the title.

   “I have to thank Edward Snowden for bringing forth the blatant trampling of our First and Fourth Amendment rights in the guise of security,” she said. “Something had to be said. Something had to be done.”

   And the worm turns. What was old is new again, ans the new becomes the old. Now it’s the DemRats who are caught having to defend the criminality of the PermaGov…I mean, it came to light on their watch…while the Ratpubs become the freedom fighters.

   Business as usual.

   —snip—

   This time around, per Orrock’s resolution, the RNC is declaring that “unwarranted government surveillance is an intrusion on basic human rights that threatens the very foundations of a democratic society and this program represents a gross infringement of the freedom of association and the right to privacy and goes far beyond even the permissive limits set by the Patriot Act.”

   The RNC’s tidal shift reflects the reality that mass surveillance looks a lot more benign when your own party’s leader is in charge of the operation. But the resolution also is a sign of the increasing influence of the libertarian wing of the party, especially supporters of Ron Paul and his son, Rand Paul, who have made government overreach in pursuit of terrorists a top issue. Both Orrock and fellow Nevada Committeeman James Smack, who presented the resolution on her behalf, supported the elder Paul’s presidential campaign.

   “I think it probably does reflect the views of many of the people who really want to turn out the vote and who are viewing the world through the prism of the next election,” Stewart Baker, a former Bush-era Homeland Security official, told msnbc in an email. “It’s a widespread view among Republicans, but I think the ones that know this institution best and for whom national security is a high priority don’t share this view.”

   —snip—

   “What they lack in mastery of the subject matter, they make up in enthusiasm,” Stephen Vladeck, a professor of law at American University, said in an e-mail. “There appears to be very little daylight between the RNC and progressive challengers of the phone records program, such as the ACLU.”

   And there it is, Booman.

   “…very little daylight between the RNC and progressive challengers of the phone records program, such as the ACLU.”

   Precisel=yw hat I have been saying here for a couple of years. There is a coalition forming between the anti-PermaGov factions of both major parties and it is going to include many, many “centrist undecideds” as well. Watch. There may well be no need for a third party if the existing Republican Party manages to attract the members of that new coalition.

   Watch.

   The full text of the resolution is below:

   RESOLUTION TO RENOUNCE THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY’S SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM

   WHEREAS, the secret surveillance program called PRISM targets, among other things, the surveillance of communications of U.S. citizens on a vast scale and monitors searching habits of virtually every American on the internet;

   WHEREAS, this dragnet program is, as far as we know, the largest surveillance effort ever launched by a democratic government against its own citizens, consisting of the mass acquisition of Americans’ call details encompassing all wireless and landline subscribers of the country’s three largest phone companies*;

   WHEREAS, every time an American citizen makes a phone call, the NSA gets a record of the location, the number called, the time of the call and the length of the conversation; all of which are an invasion into the personal lives of American citizens that violates the right of free speech and association afforded by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution;

   WHEREAS, the mass collection and retention of personal data is in itself contrary to the right of privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, that warrants shall issue only upon probable cause, and generally prevents the American government from issuing modern-day writs of assistance;

   WHEREAS, unwarranted government surveillance is an intrusion on basic human rights that threatens the very foundations of a democratic society and this program represents a gross infringement of the freedom of association and the right to privacy and goes far beyond even the permissive limits set by the Patriot Act;

   and

   WHEREAS, Republican House Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, an author of the Patriot Act and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee at the time of Section 215’s passage, called the Section 215 surveillance program “an abuse of that law,” writing that, “based on the scope of the released order, both the administration and the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court are relying on an unbounded interpretation of the act that Congress never intended;” therefore be it

   RESOLVED, the Republican National Committee encourages Republican lawmakers to enact legislation to amend Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the state secrets privilege, and the FISA Amendments Act to make it clear that blanket surveillance of the Internet activity, phone records and correspondence – electronic, physical, and otherwise – of any person residing in the U.S. is prohibited by law and that violations can be reviewed in adversarial proceedings before a public court;

   RESOLVED, the Republican National Committee encourages Republican law makers to call for a special committee to investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of this domestic spying and the committee should create specific recommendations for legal and regulatory reform to end unconstitutional surveillance as well as hold accountable those public officials who are found to be responsible for this unconstitutional surveillance; and

   RESOLVED, the Republican National Committee calls upon Republican lawmakers to immediately take action to halt current unconstitutional surveillance programs and provide a full public accounting of the NSA’s data collection programs.

   HOO boy, Booman!!! If only the DemRats had possessed the courage…or of course one might more accurately call it the simple understanding of political expediency…to write something along these lines regarding the Bush administration’s criminal dealings during the runup to its Blood For Oil war in Iraq, perhaps the U.S. would not today find itself up the moral creek without a paddle.

   But they didn’t and more’s the pity.

   Watch.

   Your worst nightmare is coming true.

   A coalition is forming among the disaffected of both PermaGov parties and those unallied with either.

   The RatPubs area going to run with this. Christie’s fall opens the path and the Paul people are stepping through the hole.

   Nice.

   Good work, leftinesses. You have played both ends against the middle for so long that now the middle is no longer holding.

   HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

   Sweet dreams.

   Later…

   AG

   • 

     The Voice In The Wilderness on January 24, 2014 at 8:35 pm

     You are right about Democratic cravenness, but I can’t understand your fascination with the knuckle-dragging Pauls, who are just shills for Wall Street.

     • 

       Arthur Gilroy on January 24, 2014 at 11:25 pm

       One side always demonizes the other sides. This is a three dimensional fight now, being waged in two-dimensional ways. Either/or. There is always a third side. Whatever wins becomes the orthodoxy. It is often said that the winners write history. Actually, history writes the winners. I am merely an interested observer. Whoever is most attacked by both sides of a bad scene often appears to be the real deal. Everybody has their detractors. RatPublicans imply that Obama is an evil agent of some hostile country or the harbinger of the downfall of white, Western civilization. DemocRats call the Ratpublicans knuckle-dragging Neanderthals. Interestingly enough, neither party has had much good to say about the Paulistas.

       Until today. (See my post above. The document sounds like it was written by Ron Paul.)

       Hmmmmm…

       The worm turns and suddenly the knuckle draggers are on the other foot.

       Hmmmmm…

       Watch.

       Anybody who wants to end U.S. economic imperialism is of positive interest to me.

       Call ’em knuckle draggers if you wish, but examine your own knuckles as you do so.

       We are all in need a manicure sometime.

       Later…

       AG

2. 

   mainsailset on January 24, 2014 at 10:29 pm

   Was listening to a freshly minted Conservative pundit this evening talk about what a DEEP bench the Right has for 2016.

   And then I remembered how deep the bench was in 2012. So deep that the Party trotted out untried unknowns until everyone’s head exploded.

   And then this cute little pundit told the tv that the Party was aiming at the younger generation of women. Unfortunately, this was also during a segment exploring Huckabee’s come hither libido commentary.

   What was the old saying about ‘if you can’t dazzle ’em with brilliance baffle ’em with bu*sh*t’ yeah.

   • 

     Errol on January 25, 2014 at 9:51 am

     SOTU response: this is how they are appealing to younger generation of women
     http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mcmorris-rodgers-working-on-sotu-response-with-baby-in-arm-pho
     to

     • 

       mainsailset on January 25, 2014 at 10:08 am

       Kathy’s my Rep, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t cringe at what talking points she will deliver with a straight face. She’s a very disciplined talking points deliverer don’tchaknow?

       • 

         Errol on January 25, 2014 at 11:43 am

         Very sorry to hear! maybe at least she’ll give you special insights into Huckabee’s patriarchal [there’s a word I thought had fallen out of use completely] word salad. and maybe she too is being set up for vp run

3. 

   DerFarm on January 25, 2014 at 9:28 am

   As long as they use Razzzz for their polling, their heads are still up their asses.