General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am getting the odd sense that some don't like Snowden because he made the establishment look bad [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Snowden just told us that they were stealing it.
Snowden did not take anything that didn't already belong to us, the people.
Remember.
Ours is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Since we are the government, since we govern ourselves, who took our metadata? It is a small elite clique, a rogue group in our government that operates under the color of authority but that does not have legitimate authority. Why does this program lack authority?
Because once people understand what is happening and what the repercussions of this spying and collection of our metadata means for our self-determination, for our press, for our freedom of speech, religion and association among other freedoms, this spying will have no authority whatsoever. It is a program that operates under the color of law but is as illegal as police brutality.
Snowden has brought out the facts. It will probably take years, but the program's inevitable excesses and abuses will come to life and the people will take back their authority and end the program.