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In reply to the discussion: Sen. Al Franken: “I Assure You This Isn’t About Spying on the American People” [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Snowden has worked in the reality of the program and presented the everyday abuses that are inherent in it.
I like Franken very much, but he is under tremendous pressure to approve this program. He does not want to be responsible should the program be ended and we have terrorist attacks. But look, the program was fully functioning and we had terrorist attacks at the Boston Marathon. So the program did not deter foreign terrorists.
Why do they need Verizon to safeguard all its billing records if they aren't targeting Americans?
Same for the other telecoms that mostly serve American phones. I don't think that terrorists are likely to communicate via AOL or Verizon, so why does the NSA want access to those records.
Sounds to me like Franken has been handed a bowl of watery soup.
So, Senator Franken, how many records of American communications does the NSA collect in an average month?
How much metadata on Americans does the NSA collect in a month?
Those are among the facts that I want to know because I have heard some horrendous numbers. Is Franken saying that Wyden has been exaggerating his concern about the programs?
Something does not make sense.