The fix has always been in on any meaningful accountability or reform for the NSA under the Obama regime and Sunday morning's state media propaganda forums indicate just how powerless that the American people truly are. Appearing on NBC's Press the Meat were the NSA Stasi's two biggest cheerleaders, apple pie authoritarian House Intelligence Committee capo Mike Rogers and Senate Intelligence Committee boss Dianne Feinstein. Both of whom are an ongoing disgrace to any concept of a free country as well as two serial violators of their oaths to uphold the Constitution and they gushed approvingly over Barry's Friday speech at the Department of Injustice where he also demonstrated the requisite level of contempt for the U.S. Constitution necessary for a post September 11, 2001 president by refusing to do anything that would reign in the runaway spy machine.

Now that the initial wave of spin has been unleashed it will be hammered home by the state media and Obama himself as he ramps up to make his pitch to the American people in the upcoming State of the Union address. Friday's speech had to be one of the most cynical that Obama has ever made as he did his job in selling the need for mass warrantless surveillance and data storage while providing a few small concessions along with no details on how they will be implemented. My money is on that they won't as Americans have extremely short attention spans and after all, who cares if they are spying on them if they aren't doing anything wrong. The speech was peppered with so many references to "the day when everything changed' that it could have been given by George W. Bush:

The horror of September 11th brought these issues to the fore. (to this day there has been no accountability for those on watch on that day, normally when one is that incompetent they are fired)

It is hard to overstate the transformation America's intelligence community had to go through after 9/11. (Even harder to overstate how much taxpayer money that could have been better spent began to be funneled into the greatest growth industry of the 21st century: the surveillance industrial complex)

We saw, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, our government engaged in enhanced interrogation techniques that contradicted our values. (The torture continues but has been outsourced)

Some of the worst excesses that emerged after 9/11 were curbed by the time I took office. (However the drone strikes increased and Obama authorized the extrajudicial killing of American citizens)

They know that if another 9/11 or massive cyber-attack occurs, they will be asked,by Congress and the media, why they failed to connect the dots. (This is exactly what the NSA and the war machine so badly needs to happen because dissenters will then become the enemies of the state and labeled as "terrorists")

A fresh examination of our surveillance programs was a necessary next step in our effort to get off the open ended war-footing that we have maintained since 9/11. (Iran anyone?)

Those who are troubled by our existing programs are not interested in a repeat of 9/11. (Nor are they interested in living in a modern incarnation of Nazi Germany)

Why is this necessary? The program grew out of a desire to address a gap identified after 9/11. (Cui Bono?)

One of the 9/11 hijackers -- Khalid al-Mihdhar -- made a phone call from San Diego to a known al Qaeda safe-house in Yemen. (Refer to New Yorker article by Lawrence Wright "The Al Qaeda Switchboard" and ask exactly why the CIA has never been held responsible for failing to share this information)

Rogers and DiFi appeared that they were near orgasm as they basked in the glow of vindication with Obama's refusal to stop the mass surveillance program. Feinstein who has served as an impenetrable firewall of cellulite around the unconstitutional spying and data mining conjured up the standard tired talking points that are always used by those whose abrogation of their duties to serve the American people who they view at best as meddlesome and at worst as enemies: "A lot of the privacy people perhaps don't understand that we still occupy the role of the Great Satan. New bombs are being devised. New terrorists are emerging, new groups, actually, a new level of viciousness". Of course it is never addressed that U.S. foreign policy including the ongoing special operations assassinations and errant drone strikes that kill innocent women and children fuel much of the hatred. The "Great Satan" thing is also getting stale as it is our precious ally the House of Saud that often funds these militant Islamist groups lest they turn on their true oppressors the corrupt monarchy. DiFi also laid out the big lie that if the corporations can do it then so can the U.S. government: "When you look at what companies collect, the government does not seem to be a major offender at all". What she doesn't bother to mention is that these big corporations do not have the full power of the state behind them with which is used to falsely accuse, imprison, murder and destroy lives with. Not that David Gregory would bother with any of those follow up questions which is why he has his gig.

Über fascist Mike Rogers provided his usual denials of criminal conduct and false equivalencies as well as his detest for those who seek to expose and restrain the NSA Stasi. His remarks continued the ongoing escalation of official rhetoric directed towards former government contractor turned NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden which I excerpt from an NBC News article:

"That's like having the janitor at a bank who figured out how to steal some money deciding matters of high finance. This was a thief, who we believe had some help, who stole information the vast majority, had nothing to do with privacy. Our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines have been incredibly harmed by the data that he has taken with him and we believe now is in the hands of nation states."

And

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).