Section 702 Reauthorized and Expanded

America lost something important today and hardly anyone heard. The headlines
of the state-aligned media screech and crow about the nefarious designs of
your fellow citizens and the necessity of foreign wars without end but find
few words for a crime against the Constitution. This is the government the
Founders warned us about.

Elizabeth Goitein (@LizaGoitein):

It's over (for now). A majority of senators caved to the fearmongering and
bush league tactics of the administration and surveillance hawks in Congress
and they sold out Americans' civil liberties. Section 702 has been
reauthorized, not just without any meaningful reforms, but with "one of the
most dramatic and terrifying expansions of government surveillance authority
in history," as Senator Ron Wyden aptly described it.

It is nothing short of mind-boggling that 58 senators voted to keep this
Orwellian power in the bill. The provision effectively grants the NSA access
to the communications equipment of almost any U.S. business, plus huge numbers
of organizations and individuals. It's a gift to any president who may wish to
spy on political enemies, journalists, ideological opponents, really just
about anyone.

The administration and intelligence committee leaders buried senators in a
morass of misleading and, in some cases, flatly false statements throughout
the week. I think of myself as pretty jaded, and I was still genuinely shaken
by how many lies I heard.

This is a shameful moment in the history of the United States Congress. It's a
shameful moment for this administration, as well. But ultimately, it's the
American people who pay the price for this sort of thing. And sooner or later,
we will.