Salon.com: on Technology


Joe Miller: NSA recording digital cell phone calls is turnkey tyranny

We now have documentation that our government was involved in the surveillance of our phone calls. Clandestine agencies have admitted to metadata gathering. You know, there are NSA whistleblowers who have suggested that in fact most digital cell phone calls are recorded. You've got all sorts of aggressive action taking place at the federal level which is really, I think, a violation of what the founders intended with the Fourth Amendment--unreasonable search and seizure.

And I agree with what some have said, that this is essentially turnkey tyranny. That you've got a government with now so much information that's gathered unconstitutionally, that it does pose a threat to freedom.

The expanse of the federal government in ways that the founders didn't intend--intruding on states' rights--another area that gives me great cause for concern.

Source: Salon.com 2014 CPAC interview on 2014 Alaska Senate race Mar 10, 2014

Shenna Bellows: "Total Information Awareness" undermines our democracy

Q: Where would you draw the line on whom the US should be spying on?

A: I support measures to repeal the Patriot Act and prohibit the NSA from engaging in bulk data collection. The federal government should only be gathering information about Americans when there are specific and articulable facts that are actually relevant to a terrorism investigation.

Q: Are there categories of foreign leaders that you think it is appropriate for the US government to be surveiling?

A: I think we need a paradigm shift in our surveillance--in our approach to surveillance. For the last decade, policymakers in Washington have trampled on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, creating a constitutional crisis. This paradigm of "Total Information Awareness" undermines our democracy and threatens international relations. We need a Church Committee-style investigation into the nature and extent of our surveillance practices. And we need meaningful reforms to restore our constitutional freedoms and restore our trust.

Source: Salon.com on 2014 Maine Senate debate, "Snowden" Oct 30, 2013

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