[lern_too_spel]

> The US has abandoned the rule of law and the constitutional protections against unreasonable search

Those constitutional protections protect US citizens anywhere and noncitizens while they are in the US. Warrantless surveillance of communications affects noncitizens outside the US. The US is still very much a nation of laws.

[sneak]

Human rights to privacy do not hinge upon location or citizenship.

Indeed, the declaration (written by British crown subjects) makes it clear: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”.

It doesn’t say “all americans”. The constitution doesn’t grant the rights, it merely recognizes the existing ones... but you already know this.

> Warrantless surveillance of communications affects noncitizens outside the US.

We have also learned, again and again, that it affects US citizens, too, in violation of the law. The IC doesn’t care that much beyond keeping up appearances that they comply with the law.

These are the same people who ran torture centers, lied to Congress, got caught, and hacked Congressional computers to delete evidence, then got caught doing that, too. Nobody went to jail or was even charged.

The laws simply do not apply to the CIA.

[lern_too_spel]

> Indeed, the declaration (written by British crown subjects) makes it clear: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”.

Three problems:

1. The Declaration is not the law of the land, nor does it grant "constitutional protections."

2. None of the inalienable rights it lists are protection against warrantless wiretaps.

3. Some of the rights clearly don't apply to foreigners because the Constitution, which is the law of the land, provides for warmaking.

> The constitution doesn’t grant the rights, it merely recognizes the existing ones... but you already know this.

The Constitution says how the government works. A society can decide to require court orders for surveillance or not. The US government requires them, while the British government does not.

> We have also learned, again and again, that it affects US citizens, too, in violation of the law. The IC doesn’t care that much beyond keeping up appearances that they comply with the law.

We've learned exactly the opposite from both recent leaks and from oversight reports. They try to follow the law closely.