For all his years in the Senate, what an amateur he is. Let the terrorists have their communications and get a warrant to force Twitter, Youtube, etc to pipe all related activity to the FBI. Otherwise they'll go underground to where the TLAs can no longer see them.
I'll probably get down voted for this, but in every sense the guy is a fing ahole.
If he is not, his view of the world, and his decision process that brings him to rationalize supporting some of our most destructive legislation is truly disturbing.
I'm from the US. In my youth, I would discuss politics with just about anyone under almost any circumstances. Tonight, I admit to having had a few drinks, and understand this may be an admission of apathy to all the wrong internet strangers...
However, I just want you as a PERSON to know that at least one other human out in the void that is the United States agrees completely with you.
When I think of people like Joe Lieberman still having a job in 2012, and then realize that he and others like him are continually elected by people who buy from me, work with me, and live with me because on some level they want(??) people like this in office............
Words are incapable of describing my sadness, anger, and eventual apathy towards the process.
He's so advanced at the process that he's done what you might think is impossible in the U.S., and gotten elected as a third party candidate, because he couldn't get the nomination of either of the two major parties.
My knee-jerk response is that what you mention is a decent strategy if your intention is to catch terrorists, but if your intention is to get votes, then Lieberman's plan may work better.
<rant>If you follow his history, Liebermann is a sanctimonious wind bag that is all about drawing attention to himself. I'm glad he is retiring.</rant>
It seems like there are few, CA's two Senators are not amongst them. Ron Wyden and Al Franken are up there in my book. Previously, Paul Wellstone was, prior to his passing.
Some would say Ron/Rand Paul, but despite agreeing with them on more than a couple of things, there are aspects of their positions I can't get on board with. They are probably less delve serving than some of their peers, though.
"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
"What?"
"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
"I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."
Ford shrugged again.
"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."
Once again, we have politicians who are simply unable to keep up with the technology revolution that has largely happened and continues to happen without their involvement (DARPA origins, etc., not withstanding).
What scares me is that this amazing new level of self-expression and communication seems to be facing an ever-increasing number of threats. Each time stuff like this comes up, it increases fatigue on the parts of those of us who work to fight against such threats...
The disparity in effort required to author such legislation and the effort required to defeat it makes me fear that loss is only a question of 'when', not 'if'.
