[roboneal]

It also enrages me how they dismiss the metadata as a "nothing burger".

Does it occur to anyone how much leverage you can exert with that information alone in such areas as finance, divorce proceedings, opposition research, leak investigations, and good old fashioned blackmail?

To add to it, they don't even need a court order or oversight to do the metadata searches per Feinstein (today).

[mtgx]

What matters me is that most even forget to mention part of the metadata is the location of the device. With that data they can basically track everyone's location, almost as accurately as with GPS.

And such GPS tracking was just considered unconstitutional in a 9-0 decision by the Supreme Court. I really hope all this stuff gets to the Supreme Court. Even if not all of it is unconstitutional, I could see at least 80% of the policies comprised in Patriot Act and FISA Amendments Act being unconstitutional.

[pfortuny]

If you read Soljenitsin, you realize the importance of metadata instantly: "why did you call X, where did you meet Y...."

[benjarrell]

This [1] is with less data than the NSA collects.

1: http://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-data-retention

[Vivtek]

What blows my mind is the conservatives worried about the government taking their guns - but not at all worried about the government knowing they called the gun store yesterday or paid $300 there last Friday.

[Veelen]

There are plenty of conservatives that are worried about both, why does this have to be such a partisan thing for you? Why are not people from both sides of the aisle trying to stop the destruction of the constitution rather than just blaming the other side for whatever?

[Vivtek]

I know there are plenty of conservatives worried about both - they're not the ones blowing my mind. Why does this have to be such a partisan thing for you?

But in answer to your second question, it's not progressive liberals who passed the Patriot Act in the first place. We don't really have any representation in Congress at all, any more than libertarians do. Why do you persist in talking about an aisle when both sides of the aisle are wholly owned subsidiaries of corporate America?

[roboneal]

Were you not the first person to inject "conservative" into the thread?

[Vivtek]

What, by mentioning that there is a group of people who blow my mind, I'm being partisan? What is the matter with you? Did a liberal frighten your mother?

Did I say "all conservatives" are inconsistent? No. I said there are people who simultaneously believe Obama is after their guns, but the NSA is just peachy keen, and I find this astonishing, and you think I'm being unfair to the poor little snowflakes.

Good day to you, sir.

[uptown]

Political parties are a brilliant way to dilute the power of a populous. Not only do they split the power of a group in-half, but they also serve to redirect both positive and negative energy towards the opposing party rather than towards the entrenched government.

[samstave]

http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1g9gum/with_all_...