How many more lies about surveillance will Obama need to tell to restore trust in government?
I was disappointed in Obama’s speech because I thought he might waive sovereign immunity & let Americans sue the government for NSA crimes.
On the bright side, I don’t need to spend the afternoon looking for a lawyer who will do that on a contingency.
“Coming Clean” will not be the nickname for this speech. He still believes that he can lie his way back to higher trust ratings in public approval polls…
Glenn Greenwald commented that Obama should have had more flags in the background for the speech. The folks at Slate provided above artwork to show what shoulda been – and perhaps provide the template for Obama’s next NSA speech.
Jim,
Over the years I noted the same thing about the flags. My own theory is that deep down they really love the DPRK despite their public utterances and desire the same for America.
http://nkleadershipwatch.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/eppbm_081213_alaanz.jpg?w=490&h=327
See? They like flags too. Now, if we can only teach our troops to march like theirs.
As for disappointment there was one group who was happy with Obama’s speech. I refer to the Fox News All Stars (of David). The dean of this group, Chuck Krauthammer agreed with Rand Paul’s assessment, that it was a lot of blather and it would be business as usual. Krauthammer expressed his satisfaction. Also satisfied were Charles Lane of the WaPo and Jason Riley of the WSJ. I believe that in their minds this is a temporary state of affairs with Obama as they believe that in 2016 the GOP will retake the Senate and the presidency and then the NSA will be theirs again to use against their rivals, what few they are in the public arena.
Ryan, I’m not surprised by those reactions. Folks who holler BULLSHIT don’t tend to make it on TV news discussions.
“How many more lies about surveillance will Obama need to tell to restore trust in government?”
Hilarious…that line is worthy of a Saturday Night Live skit.
Another example that the best humor contains elements of truth.
Sadly, enough lies will calm plenty of American dunderheads that actually take stuff Obama says seriously…
smitty, I think most of the folks who liked the speech have not been following the policy closely – or have simply relied on what they heard on TV.
On the other hand, there are folks who think govt. should vacuum up everything – and I can understand why they cheered…
“How many more lies about surveillance will Obama need to tell to restore trust in government?”
I had to get out the calculator to guesstimate the answer to this question.
My answer: No new lies. Obama just needs to keep repeating the lies he has already told.
But, because the average rube is oblivious to the personal impact of living in a surveillance state,
much fewer lies need to be told about this subject than the number of lies required to restore
trust in government regarding the economy and healthcare, which have a more immediate and
discernible impact on people in terms of dollars.
Much like the lies used to rationalize war, invoking nefarious phantom hobgoblins is always an easy sell to fearful rubes. So, if you’ve got nothing to hide, you aren’t supposed to care about privacy as long as the government is protecting you from evil-doers seeking to kill your children as they sleep. This would include people like Edward Snowden who is a Russian spy, according to the Sunday Morning Propaganda Broadcast Networks.
We should all pray that Obama taps all our phones, nukes Russia, and raises our taxes to pay for the food stamps, healthcare, prisons and bombs we need to keep us safe and free. After all, Amerika is such an exceptional place and we owe it to ourselves because we are special.
Excellent point on no need for new lies. He certainly relied on threadbare lies in his Friday spiel.
As far as nuking Russia and raising taxes to pay for everything for everybody – nobody ever said that freedom was free. ….
Jim,
Today I made myself watch Fox News Sunday. I was curious to the if the other half of the K+K team would be there to tell us what we should think and what opinions to hold. No luck, Bill Kristol decided to remain under his rock. As a consolation prize there was Brit Hume. Brit devastated me with his superior logic and reason. He said that if the NSA is collecting date on everybody it is the same a collecting it on nobody.
Brit also said that people who are upset with the NSA are simply being paranoid.
And to think, there wasn’t a drop of hard liquor anywhere in the house.
Ryan, nothing spooks me worse than when dignitaries imply that I am paranoid.