Althouse: "Hours after the Senate balked at reauthorizing the bulk collection of U.S. telephone records, the National Security Agency began shutting down..."

May 24, 2015

"Hours after the Senate balked at reauthorizing the bulk collection of U.S. telephone records, the National Security Agency began shutting down..."

"... a controversial program Saturday that senior intelligence and law enforcement officials say is vital to track terrorists in the United States."

That's the Senate, working according to plan — balking at bulk — acting through inaction.

18 comments:

tim maguire said...: A great example of the vital importance of sunset clauses. I doubt we could have done this without one.; 5/24/15, 5:19 AM
clint said...: Elections matter.

Glad to see Obama didn't just authorize the continuation with an executive tweet.

I wonder if there's enough support to get a Constitutional Amendment applying sunsetting to all acts of Congress.; 5/24/15, 5:55 AM
hoyden said...: Does this count as a success along with Obama's other Middle-East and terrorist combating strategies?; 5/24/15, 6:28 AM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Is it too much to hope that the Senate will follow this with more inaction?; 5/24/15, 7:37 AM
kcom said...: Clint, as long as he's frustrated enough, that makes it constitutional to change any law he wants. I guess he hasn't reached that level yet. But he'll determine when he has and when that hidden constitutional principle kicks in.; 5/24/15, 8:20 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: The two people most responsible for this are Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald. Notably, neither feels comfortable living in our country at the moment.

Now that's Fascism!!!; 5/24/15, 8:23 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: There is a way to work this out, but, short of another successful 9//11 type attack, the will necessary to make the difficult choices do not seem as imperative as the momentary political gain inaction provides.

Same old Washington game... kick the can.; 5/24/15, 8:47 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Who knows, maybe we wont get hit again before a technological know how will prop up that would ensure both privacy and security.

Keep your fingers x; 5/24/15, 8:52 AM
Michael K said...: I don't think this is a good idea. Rand Paul thinks this will send him to the Presidency. If there is a major attack before 2017, and I think there could be, this will not look good in the rear view mirror.

Last I heard Glen Greenwald was comfortable in fascist Argentina.; 5/24/15, 9:08 AM
khesanh0802 said...: ARM is probably right to a certain extent. I would also lay credit at the feet of Lois Lerner and her cronies. The actions of the IRS have re-emphasized the conviction that you can not trust the government to police itself and that given a power there is a 100% chance that they will abuse it.

@tim maquire is also correct that requiring that a law be renewed or lapse after a certain period opens the door for needed correction.

Given the way personal data is collected and used on the internet people are right to be very suspicious of the government's seemingly uncontrolled gathering of same.; 5/24/15, 9:22 AM
Sebastian said...: Symbolic politics with real consequences.; 5/24/15, 9:30 AM
Anonymous said...: But there is no way to know if they really shut down the operation until the next Snowden who escaped their assassins came forward in a foreign country.

In any case, thank you Snowden for fighting and winning this battle: Bureaucrats vs the U.S. Constitution. Sorry you became an exile, consider yourself a casualty of war. Thanks again for your sacrifice on this Memorial Day.; 5/24/15, 10:25 AM
Twelve said...: ...the National Security Agency began shutting down a controversial program...

Meanwhile, back in the real world:

...the National Security Agency began pretending to shut down a controversial program...

It's been a long time since anyone but the NSA knows for sure what the NSA is up to. The shadow government will bide their time but submitting to the will of the proles is a thing of the past. So long as they're comfortable there's no hurry. Eventually they'll no longer bother hiding.; 5/24/15, 10:34 AM
Anonymous said...: Michael K said...
Last I heard Glen Greenwald was comfortable in fascist Argentina.

We should be ashamed that he needs the protection of fascist Argentina, and Snowden the protection of Putin, from the United States of Fascist America.

In this time and age of Obama who rules by decrees, and ignores laws on the book, who helps illegals storm the southern border, who makes secret trade deals in collusion with a Republican Congress, you should understand so-called secrets are to protect politicians from voters' backlashes, not the country. Politicians and govt. bureaucrats violated the U.S. Constitution in "secret". And you expect we should all keep quiet because the govt. stamped it secret. That is stupid.; 5/24/15, 10:46 AM
Michael K said...: I doubt Greenwald needs protection as he seems to be in sympathy with the American fascists but he might consider the fate of Alberto Nisman before he gets too comfortable.; 5/24/15, 11:12 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "It's been a long time since anyone but the NSA knows for sure what the NSA is up to. The shadow government will bide their time but submitting to the will of the proles is a thing of the past. So long as they're comfortable there's no hurry. Eventually they'll no longer bother hiding."

Yeah, I'm not a conspiracy theorist but you'd have to be pretty naive to think they're going to stop doing what they do. No governmental agency willingly disbands itself. This would be especially true of highly secretive, powerful government agencies.; 5/24/15, 12:08 PM
Joe said...: I agree that there isn't a chance in hell that NSA is actually shutting down this program. They're most likely just putting it under a different line item or some slush fund, of which I'm sure there are many with the NSA.; 5/24/15, 1:01 PM
Anonymous said...: The good news for Democrats is, they can always change their mind.

For example, when we are hit by another terrorist attack. They can always say, "Well, we were against it before we were for it. Now we are for it, but later, we'll be against it again."

Whichever way the wind blows.; 5/24/15, 2:48 PM