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[Anti-American or anti-Democratic? China makes no bones about its
political system, but this is done in the name of life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness... secret courts, war crime whistle-blowers
without the audacity of hope... Paging Franz Kafka, Frans Kafka
please pick up the white telephones located in the lobby... ]<br>
<h1 class="title">White House Defends Its Wiretapping Of Millions Of
US Citizens</h1>
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<span class="submitted">Submitted by <a
href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden">Tyler Durden</a>
on 06/06/2013 09:44 -0400</span><br>
<br>
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<br>
<div class="content">
<p>Blink and you have likely missed Obama's latest Watergate
moment, this time following the disclosure that the White House
has instructed the NSA to collect millions of daily phone
records from Verizon (and likely all other carriers). What is
surprising to us is that this is even news. We reported on <em>just
this</em> in March of 2012 with “<a
href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/%E2%80%9Cwe-are-far-turnkey-totalitarian-state-big-brother-goes-live-september-2013">We
Are This Far From A Turnkey Totalitarian State" - Big Brother
Goes Live September 2013</a>" and then again in April 2012 "<a
href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/nsa-whistleblower-speaks-live-government-lying-you">NSA
Whistleblower Speaks Live: "The Government Is Lying To You</a>"
using an NSA whistleblower as a source. Still, no matter the
distribution platform, it is a welcome development for the
majority of the population to know that the same Stazi tactics
so loathed for decades in the fringes of the "evil empire" are
now a daily occurrence under the "most transparent
administration in history." This is especially true in the
aftermath of the recent media scandals involving the soon to be
former Attorney General. </p>
<p>So what was the latest largely regurgitated news? Overnight te
Guardian's Glenn Greenwald reports that the "NSA is collecting
phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily" following
a "top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all
call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under Obama."</p>
<p>Some more from the <a
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order?CMP=twt_gu">Guardian</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
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<p>The National Security Agency is currently collecting the
telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one
of America's largest telecoms providers, under a top secret
court order issued in April.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian,
requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA
information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within
the US and between the US and other countries.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The document shows for the first time that under the Obama
administration the communication records of millions of US
citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk –
regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Fisa)
granted the order to the FBI on April 25, giving the
government unlimited authority to obtain the data for a
specified three-month period ending on July 19.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Under the terms of the blanket order, the numbers of both
parties on a call are handed over, as is location data, call
duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all
calls. The contents of the conversation itself are not
covered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The disclosure is likely to reignite longstanding debates in
the US over the proper extent of the government's domestic
spying powers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>No it won't</strong>. Because those who care, have
known about this for a long, long time. Everyone else... well,
they have their soaring 401(k)s to comfort them, sprinkled in
with a little class warfare to keep things "fair", and of course
Dancing with the Stars. </p>
<p>Finally, the White House was quick to explain why living in a
crypto-fascist, totalitarian state is the New Normal: <strong>it's
for your own good, </strong>you see.</p>
<p> <a
href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/06/us-usa-wiretaps-verizon-idUSBRE95502920130606">From
Reuters</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
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<p><strong>The Obama administration on Thursday acknowledged
that it is collecting a massive amount of telephone records
from at least one carrier, reopening the debate over privacy
even as it defended the practice as necessary to protect
Americans against attack. </strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The admission comes after the Guardian newspaper published a
secret court order related to the records of millions of
Verizon Communications customers on its website on Wednesday.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A senior administration official said the court order
pertains only to data such as a telephone number or the length
of a call, and not the subscribers' identities or the content
of the telephone calls.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Such information is "a critical tool in protecting the nation
from terrorist threats to the United States," the official
said, speaking on the condition of not being named.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It allows counter terrorism personnel to discover whether
known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other
persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities,
particularly people located inside the United States," the
official added.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The revelation raises fresh concerns about President Barack
Obama's handling of privacy and free speech issues. His
administration is already under fire for searching Associated
Press journalists' calling records and the emails of a Fox
television reporter as part of its inquiries into leaked
government information.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was not immediately clear whether the practice extends to
other carriers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It does. But what is most stunning in all of this is that the
benevolent rulers who are here to "help us" have not made
selling of any security illegal and punishable by death. Yet.</p>
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