[riggins]

to put my reply in context.

I live in NYC. I used to be in the WTC on a weekly basis for business. I was in Rockefeller Center when anthrax was found in Rockefeller Center (that was actually kinda scary). I'm aware that 'PRISM' purportedly prevented a NYC subway bombing. This isn't to say I'm 'so brave'. It's just to give the context that I'm not removed from the situation.

With that context, I'd much rather take my chances with increased terrorist activity than give the government expanded surveillance powers.

Also, I agree with this.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/06/09/i-am-so-fucking-over...

you want to see the villain, look in the mirror. It’s the pants-wetting populace of the United States, who votes for these assholes who pass bad laws in moments of crisis, because we have to do something and because Americans, unlike every other nation in the world, have a god given right to be safe at all times from all things.

[jvictor118]

"My brother got killed in a subway bombing, but at least the government can't read my facebook messages about porn and cat pictures..."

REALLY? Could you say that with a straight face to a victim's family member?

[Zak]

This is not about porn and cat pictures.

Let's say in a few years a corrupt politician manages to get himself elected president. For convenience, let's call him Dick Cheney. President Cheney expands the powers of the office, rewards his corporate friends who bought it for him and generally makes a mess of things. It doesn't look like he'll get a second term until there's another big terrorist attack. He makes his opponents look weak on security, further expands his power, starts three wars and gets re-elected easily. In his second term, he gets presidential term limits repealed, doubles the national debt and starts making journalists who ask too many questions "disappear".

People start to get fed up. They realize the terrorist threat is overblown. They realize President Cheney is more of a threat to the country than any outside entity. A challenger emerges. He persuasively argues for solutions all the experts agree are wonderful. He's well-spoken, good-looking, charismatic, entirely electable. He promises to restore civil liberties, release political prisoners and end intrusive surveillance. He's expected to win in a landslide. There's just one problem: he likes Thai ladyboys. Thanks to PRISM, Cheney knows, and ensures that a friend at Fox News finds irrefutable proof. Cheney wins a third term. The opposition candidate is later found with his throat slit outside a brothel in Bangkok.

[riggins]

Really. I can say it easily. It's a risk I'm willing to accept and a risk I would hope every patriotic American would happily accept to preserve our liberties.

BTW, where does your logic stop?

My brother got killed by a drunk driver, but at least the government can't read my facebook messages about porn and cat pictures...

I'm sure we could cut down on drunk driving fatalities (10K / year) if we applied the NSA to the problem. Should the government search through Facebook messages and Gmail to see if people are writing stuff like 'man I drove hammered last night'?

[cloudwizard]

That is a false decision as well as an unlikely result. False Positives are 1000x more likely than actual positives.

The more likely result is 100000's innocent Americans are placed on the no-fly list, thousands of innocent non-americans are waterboarded in Guantanimo, etc for each potential terrorist stopped.

Most terrorists are incompetent and would get stopped get good police work or fail because the bombs do not explode.