No Evidence Latest Alert Has Anything to Do With NSA Surveillance

Supporters of the NSA surveillance program didn’t need an excuse for liking the idea of violating Americans’ privacy, but they’re pretty sure they found one with the new “terrorist threat” situation that led to a number of embassy closures.

Now Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R – GA) and others are loudly championing the intelligence as vindication for their long-standing disdain for personal privacy, though at the core of it there is no evidence that the “threat” had anything to do with NSA spying on Americans.

It’s telling that the only officials claiming to have seen the evidence behind the “threat” were already outspoken advocates of the surveillance state, while skeptics like Rep. Adam Schiff (R – CA) say there’s no reason to think the bulk metadata collection has anything to do with this putative plot.

If it was connected it would be the most convenient plot uncovering yet, but even as Chambliss et al. make the threat out as 9/11-esque, they are eagerly keeping everything secret from the American public.