The US isn’t just reauthorizing its surveillance laws – it’s vastly expanding them

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/house-fisa-government-surveillance-senate
(FYI, this is in the House, the Senate is next)

This is outrageous. For example, this law allows agencies to call up Xfinity and order them to provide a feed to their A.I. hub of everyone in area code 556. Or what ever, with no warrant.
IOW, the government can spy on anyone, anywhere, the internet or cell phone reaches without a warrant.
Obviously, if you are an honest and upstanding citizen you have nothing to worry about, comrade.
BTW, I guarantee you this site and hundreds of others like it are being scanned.

 

Hopefully you aren't surprised. The constitution is a terrible inconvenience for federal government.

 

Oh, but it isn't just "the government" who can do this.
Specifically the CIA can spy on American citizens who communicate with foreign organizations.
The CIA isn't supposed to be doing anything in America.

 

damn, they're really going to nail those lefty terrorists...

 

Be very afraid that they have the power to go after whoever they decide to.
The target, you see, can change on a whim.

Power corrupts.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 

The Constitution deliberately and primarily limited the power of the federal government. People who are limited naturally do not like being limited and they try to sneak past any limitation they can. FISA gave them back a little bit of power over the people, and if they can expand that power while bad for the Constitution all the better for them. That is their primary interest, and that goes for Democrats and Republicans alike.

 

It's beyond scary to think that somebody like Trump could become President of this country one day and have that kind of power over your daily life.

Even scarier, knowing that Mike Johnson is a faithful Trump MAGA. Maybe he's thinking about his own future political aspirations.

 

But not Biden or Obama??? Surely you jest.

 

Neither of those has attempted to become a dictator.

 

This has nothing to do with it. Biden and Obama would take or have taken major advantage of spying on Americans. Hell, Obama tried to put federal political inspectors in the editors' rooms at major newspapers and network TV stations.

 

And lets not forget that based in part on the fake steele dossier and a forged e mail they used FISA warrants to spy on trumps election campaign and later on his whitehouse.

 

And that shouldn't happen. But the REALLY scary part would be if somebody who has already tried to become a dictator, like Trump, had that power.

 

They want to make sure Trump has all the tools he needs to go after his critics.

 

People in power will always, and constantly, look for ways to gain power over the populace.