ACLU vs. Clapper, Alexander, Hagel, Holder, and Mueller - 11

Bush II exclaimed that those who were not with him were against him, and that they could run but they could not hide.

Now the military NSA is on the run but they cannot hide either, since their hostility to America is out now.

Glenn Greenwald  has released a book concerning the beginning of his relationship with Ed Snowden.

Interestingly, it also contains the details of how it almost did not commence (Snowden’s Story, Behind the Scenes, Tomgram: Glenn Greenwald, How I Met Edward Snowden).

Meanwhile, in one of the lawsuits the Greenwald - Snowden whistleblower journalism relationship generated, the case this series is about, has a new event to consider, which is that the ACLU has filed its final Reply Brief in the case on appeal (ACLU Appeal Reply Brief).

The government position in the case:

In two significant but almost-completely overlooked legal briefs filed last week, the US government defended the constitutionality of the Fisa Amendments Act, the controversial 2008 law that codified the Bush administration's warrantless-wiretapping program. That law permits the government to monitor Americans' international communications without first obtaining individualized court orders or establishing any suspicion of wrongdoing.

It's hardly surprising that the government believes the 2008 law is constitutional – government officials advocated for its passage six years ago, and they have been vigorously defending the law ever since. Documents made public over the last eleven-and-a-half months by the Guardian and others show that the NSA has been using the law aggressively.

What's surprising – even remarkable – is what the government says on the way to its conclusion. It says, in essence, that the Constitution is utterly indifferent to the NSA's large-scale surveillance of Americans' international telephone calls and emails:

The privacy rights of US persons in international communications are significantly diminished, if not completely eliminated, when those communications have been transmitted to or obtained from non-US persons located outside the United States.

That phrase – "if not completely eliminated" – is unusually revealing. Think of it as the Justice Department's twin to the NSA's "collect it all".

(Guardian). Those who cannot see that various coup events, in both domestic and foreign policy, have taken place, in recent U.S. History, likely never will (see e.g. A Tale of Coup Cities - 11, A Tale of Coup Cities - 2).

Somewhat related is some news that a new organization is starting up (CFAPA), an online .org which launches with the purpose of perpetuating a free citizen's press in America (Free Press Activism).

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

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