Quote: But I would have completely shot down that the U.S. government was involved in the extensive level of surveillance that we now know it is engaged in.
Why? Were you not paying attention? In 2008 Congress passed a law making certain amendments to the FISA law. It included this:
Quote:"Release from liability.—No cause of action shall lie in any court against any electronic communication service provider for providing any information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with [an order/request/directive issued by the Attorney General or the Director of National Intelligence]
They did not ask for that immunity because they weren't using it. It seems that much of the data being collected was collected as a matter of routine by those companies. Rather than destroy it they turned it over to the government and all they asked in return was that no one could sue them for doing so. Congress gladly obliged.
The New York Times reported the program in 2005.
The majority of the population is far more scared of an Arab with a bomb than they are of a government eavesdropping effort. Or...at least they were until they saw a black guy in the white house.
