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by diminoten 4577 days ago
I don't think the NSA is an inherently powerful organization.

If they actually were doing all the awful things people keep saying they could do, e.g. congressional blackmail, the person doing those things would be shut down in a heartbeat. Do you honestly think the head of ANY government organization couldn't be dealt with if they went legitimately rogue?
1 comments
dllthomas 4577 days ago
I think it's more plausible than you suggest.
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diminoten 4577 days ago
Maybe, but I see no evidence to think that.
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dllthomas 4577 days ago
There's plenty of evidence to suggest that, in the sense of things we would be more likely to see if it were the case than if it weren't. Many things from the Snowden docs; parallel construction; statements of congresspeople and courts that they were unaware or misinformed; Clapper flat out lying to Congress and not facing any charges... Nevertheless, I actually don't think it is the case that we are currently in that position; I am just nowhere near as confident of that as I would prefer to be.
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diminoten 4577 days ago
None of what you just said suggests that we're one step away from authoritarianism.
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dllthomas 4577 days ago
Who said "one step"?

And yes, it more or less does suggest it. It is very far from conclusive or I would be a lot more worried.

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diminoten 4576 days ago
It doesn't, but you did:

> Being in a place where "authoritarianism" is one bad actor away is not a good place to be.

If that's not what you meant, then what did you mean?

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