President Obama gives the NSA controversy over to an understaffed watchdog group who until May didn' - Polidicks

That board is a joke, Bush and his cronies in Congress purposefully kept it powerless to avoid the NSA's operations being impeded, and Obama also took his sweet time in trying to do anything about it. Nobody in the government gives a shit about civil liberties anymore, and they ALL deserve to be replaced as soon as possible.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;41159745]That board is a joke, Bush and his cronies in Congress purposefully kept it powerless to avoid the NSA's operations being impeded, and Obama also took his sweet time in trying to do anything about it. Nobody in the government gives a shit about civil liberties anymore, and they ALL deserve to be replaced as soon as possible.[/QUOTE] [img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/q71/s720x720/1000042_479602172115280_290118768_n.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=ironman17;41158951]I just hope they don't go back to the dreaded Republicans; even with what's been happening, I still think the US should remain Democrat. Also, concerning Obama, d'you think he's a puppet or just a bit of a Conservative knob?[/QUOTE] US Presidents have a 2-term limit. Being his second term, Obama really doesn't need to play it safe (unless he's really concerned about the republicans getting back into power after he leaves). So it's quite likely he's a least somewhat comfortable with the things he's doing. It's not too surprising as very few of the people in Washington, democrat or republican, like the idea of willingly reducing the federal government's authority. The people who do are usually outsiders - either voters or state/local-level politicians, so as a now-experienced president it would be an extraordinary case if Obama were to go against this mentality.

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;41159744]Sorry, I didn't pick up on it. I don't have much experience judging the veracity of video edits.[/QUOTE] Do some goddamn research and critical thinking before you attempt to insinuate that a man is not fit for his position based on incredibly obviously fake evidence.

[QUOTE=geel9;41159839]Do some goddamn research and critical thinking before you attempt to insinuate that a man is not fit for his position based on incredibly obviously fake evidence.[/QUOTE] Woah, calm down. Posts aren't gold, we can use them to develop thought as well as stating absolute truths. I posted what I found today, I was met with opposition, and while the direct rebuttle didn't address what I had posted, I searched further and found evidence of hoax. I then stated I was wrong, although euphemistically. Sorry.

[QUOTE=geel9;41159839]Do some goddamn research and critical thinking before you attempt to insinuate that a man is not fit for his position based on incredibly obviously fake evidence.[/QUOTE] Chill, man. No need to be hateful. The guy realized his mistake.

I can't help but wonder, what all did Obama know about the program and what, if anything, could he do to stop it assuming he knew everything? I'm guessing that when a new president comes into power he isn't given a several-month lecture about everything that's going on. He has a bunch of advisers that tell him what things require his current attention, and answer questions he has. I can't imagine that at any point someone came up to him and said "Mr. President, here is the outline of every surveillance program currently underway at the NSA. Specifically, here's PRISM and how it works". And even if that happened, could he just sign a paper to make it stop or would congress have to do it?

[QUOTE=Zeke129;41160064]I can't help but wonder, what all did Obama know about the program and what, if anything, could he do to stop it assuming he knew everything? I'm guessing that when a new president comes into power he isn't given a several-month lecture about everything that's going on. He has a bunch of advisers that tell him what things require his current attention, and answer questions he has. I can't imagine that at any point someone came up to him and said "Mr. President, here is the outline of every surveillance program currently underway at the NSA. Specifically, here's PRISM and how it works". And even if that happened, could he just sign a paper to make it stop or would congress have to do it?[/QUOTE] I'm going to guess that Obama knew but didn't have any power to stop it.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;41160064]I can't help but wonder, what all did Obama know about the program and what, if anything, could he do to stop it assuming he knew everything? I'm guessing that when a new president comes into power he isn't given a several-month lecture about everything that's going on. He has a bunch of advisers that tell him what things require his current attention, and answer questions he has. I can't imagine that at any point someone came up to him and said "Mr. President, here is the outline of every surveillance program currently underway at the NSA. Specifically, here's PRISM and how it works". And even if that happened, could he just sign a paper to make it stop or would congress have to do it?[/QUOTE] Dont you know that the president has no real power? It's the patriots that controls this country no matter who is in charge!!!1

[QUOTE=Zeke129;41160064]I can't help but wonder, what all did Obama know about the program and what, if anything, could he do to stop it assuming he knew everything? I'm guessing that when a new president comes into power he isn't given a several-month lecture about everything that's going on. He has a bunch of advisers that tell him what things require his current attention, and answer questions he has. I can't imagine that at any point someone came up to him and said "Mr. President, here is the outline of every surveillance program currently underway at the NSA. Specifically, here's PRISM and how it works". And even if that happened, could he just sign a paper to make it stop or would congress have to do it?[/QUOTE] Now that you're onto it, what if it's actually the advisers that controls the show, and they're just using the president as a somewhat sentient muppet?

Fuck Obama, no really, he has been a horrible president.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;41160064]I can't help but wonder, what all did Obama know about the program and what, if anything, could he do to stop it assuming he knew everything? I'm guessing that when a new president comes into power he isn't given a several-month lecture about everything that's going on. He has a bunch of advisers that tell him what things require his current attention, and answer questions he has. I can't imagine that at any point someone came up to him and said "Mr. President, here is the outline of every surveillance program currently underway at the NSA. Specifically, here's PRISM and how it works". And even if that happened, could he just sign a paper to make it stop or would congress have to do it?[/QUOTE] Sorry to say, but Obama is all for it. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L6J4Jyrxws[/media] Although he says "No-one is listening to your phone calls." They may not be actively listening, but they sure as hell are being recorded. Ref: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPHZrVPt4-U[/media]

[QUOTE=SexualShark;41160231]Fuck Obama, no really, he has been a horrible president.[/QUOTE] [url]http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/[/url]

[QUOTE=catbarf;41160387][url]http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/[/url][/QUOTE] They didn't mention when he extended the patriot act. You can say Nixon was a good president, too, after all he improved relations with China and was only caught doing things that everyone in politics does, and even believe in. Still doesn't change the fact he resigned, and those facts on the website you listed don't change the fact the NSA, and PRISM was allowed to gather insane amounts of telephone calls, e-mails, and the such.

[QUOTE=SexualShark;41160231]Fuck Obama, no really, he has been a horrible president.[/QUOTE] You think he's horrible? Imagine what Romney would've accomplished. That said, the NSA needs to be completely closed down, and everything about it redone from the ground up with new people. And this time [B]WITH[/B] a unbiased & competent [I]"battle"[/I]-ready watchdog group monitoring every single bit of their operation from the get-go, and with a hotline to easily call out the NSA replacement out on impending bullshit.

And that's why I threw my vote away by not voting for either of them.

[QUOTE=Del91;41160499]And that's why I threw my vote away by not voting for either of them.[/QUOTE] Could've voted green. Not voting at all is apathetic and being a complete pushover.

..I did vote?

[QUOTE=Van-man;41160514]Could've voted green. Not voting at all is apathetic and being a complete pushover.[/QUOTE] Makes me wonder why independents get such little amounts of attention. Maybe if they did this NSA scandal would never of happened?

[QUOTE=Del91;41160547]..I did vote?[/QUOTE] Usually when people say they didn't vote for either, they mean they didn't vote at all.

Well, I voted for a third party. I don't know anyone my age who did actually vote though. :\

[QUOTE=geel9;41160092]I'm going to guess that Obama knew but didn't have any power to stop it.[/QUOTE] It's not a question of power, it's a question of interest. The presidency is not where you're going to find even moral opposition to this kind of thing because the people who end up as the Democratic and Republican candidates in a presidential election are at least capable of thinking like someone whose already in Washington, and in order to do that you need to be accepting of expanded federal authority on both a domestic and international scale. People who don't will not get partisan support from Washington and thus will most likely lose the nomination to someone more cooperative. If you want people who oppose expanded federal authority to have a serious place in Washington, you're going to have to do away with the Two Party System.

Even if he didn't have the power to stop it, he has the power to release information to the public. There are levels of command even above the president, but it's hard to imagine not at least one document tipping him off and eventually realization something was wrong, neither do I think the NSA was above the Presidents authority, making the prior situation irrelevant. It was in the best interests of the U.S. government that this was held underwraps, which is why no one has heard of such a scandal as recently.

[QUOTE=Van-man;41160470]You think he's horrible? Imagine what Romney would've accomplished. That said, the NSA needs to be completely closed down, and everything about it redone from the ground up with new people. And this time [B]WITH[/B] a unbiased & competent [I]"battle"[/I]-ready watchdog group monitoring every single bit of their operation from the get-go, and with a hotline to easily call out the NSA replacement out on impending bullshit.[/QUOTE] Obama Romney Two sides of the same coin.

people, [i]every[/i] politician is corrupt evil trash all of them, every single one, that there ever has been or ever will be I don't see what is hard to understand

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;41162175]Obama Romney Two sides of the same coin.[/QUOTE] Yeah right. One of them have no spine, the other is batshit insane with immigration and female rights ideas out of the 16'th century.

[QUOTE=Van-man;41160514]Could've voted green. Not voting at all is apathetic and being a complete pushover.[/QUOTE] No it's not. Sometimes you just don't like or support any of the representatives.

[QUOTE=gamefreek76;41164644]No it's not. Sometimes you just don't like or support any of the representatives.[/QUOTE] Cute Vote for the lesser evil, or your vote might as well have been put on the absolute shithead of the selection range.

[QUOTE=Van-man;41164664]Cute Vote for the lesser evil, or your vote might as well have been put on the absolute shithead of the selection range.[/QUOTE] That's not a solution, though. If I don't want either, why should I vote for either? If anything, I'd just write in my own name as a vote, but there's no chance of me winning, so it's just a waste of my time I could spend masturbating. And don't get me started on the electoral college, since even if I do vote, it goes to somebody I wouldn't want in office anyways. How I see it, I either support somebody 100% or I don't support them at all. And yes, I still do have the right to complain about whoever is in office.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;41162175]Obama Romney Two sides of the same coin.[/QUOTE] Romney was objectively a bad person