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It restricts spying on US citizens and residents to those engaged in espionage in America and territory under US control. No longer. Today anything goes.
NSA uses this authority abusively. In the 1960s, Senator Frank Church warned that its "capability at any time could be turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left, such is the capability to monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn't matter.""There would be no place to hide." Presidents could "impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back." He warned us, but we didn't listen.
America today is a total surveillance society. Obama officials claim no court or judge can challenge them. What they say goes. Governing this way is called tyranny.
Bush administration officials went all out to keep information on their program secret. At first they succeeded. Later what they authorized was revealed.
FISAA established a massive warrantless wiretapping program. It violates constitutional and statute laws with impunity. Congressional investigations and lawsuits haven't stopped it.
The FISA Amendments Act (FISAAA) granted telecom companies retroactive immunity. They spy freely on US citizens. NSA intercepts millions of online, phone, and other communications. Everyone is vulnerable globally.
Everything NSA does is classified and secret. It menaces freedom. It's unaccountable. It's shielded from prosecution.
Given today's technological capabilities, it's more dangerous than anyone could have imagined decades earlier. Big Brother expanded exponentially. Fourth Amendment protections were gutted. Freedom hangs by a thread.
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