Rep. Dennis Kucinich: Abolish The NSA And Give Snowden A Parade

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There was a showing of the new documentary, Terms and Conditions May Apply late last week in Washington DC, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich stopped by and made some very pointed remarks while discussing the NSA's surveillance activities. The (well-timed) documentary, of course, looks at how companies and the government use and abuse everyone's digital data. Kucinich's remarks are well worth listening to, as he suggests that Congress should abolish the NSA, while also saying that Ed Snowden deserves a ticker-tape parade.

The key quotes come in response to the film's director, Cullen Hoback, asking what would it take for Congress to hold James Clapper accountable for lying to Congress:

Well, you know it's illegal to lie to Congress, but everyone lies to Congress. As soon as they raise their right hand, watch out! Clapper should be held responsible, but he won't be, because that's the condition we're in right now. In a just world, Snowden, we'd be having ticker tape parades for him. But that's not what's going to happen.

[....] We have the CIA, the FBI, a dozen other intelligence infrastructures. Frankly -- and I'm saying this with a lifetime's experience in government here -- it's time to punch the NSA's ticket here. They've ruined the brand. They've destroyed the idea of privacy. We need some kind of symbolic and profound approach here, that says, 'look, you've violated something that's very dear to the American people -- you don't get to do that.' We talk about the death penalty for individuals, which I oppose, but I think there needs to be for government agencies that so broadly betray the public interest, there needs to be a measure of responsibility. And if they go beyond the pale, which the NSA has, they just ought to be abolished. We don't need the spying.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130819/01445524226/rep-dennis-kucinich-abolish-nsa-give-snowden-parade.shtml

[PowerToThePeople]

1. Stay safe Kucinich

We need more voices such as him.

[KittyWampus]

7. Yes, FOX News wouldn't be the same without him.

[Politicalboi]

2. LOL!

Dennis has lost his mind.

[Hydra]

3. "Death sentence" for the NSA? I'd go for that.

Shut it all down, including the contractors.

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4. We could do a lot with all that money: roads, hospitals, schools.

Things that WILL make the country strong.

[Hydra]

6. That's the problem

All of this spying and Military is actually to weaken us- suck all the money and education up and hollow out our souls.

The 1% live without borders, above nations.

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8. Exactly. It's a racket, and we are the chumps. nt

[geek tragedy]

5. So, I guess we would just send Awman Al Zawahiri polite notes asking him to not plan

any more attacks, pretty please, and that we totally trust him to leave us alone.

Also, a similar note would go to China and Russia saying we trust them 100% to not spy on us.

[sabrina 1]

9. Kucinich is right, the NSA should be disbanded, along with making it illegal for Congress to hand

over its responsibilities to Private Security Corporations. They have more interest in obtained funding than in protecting this country. The privatization of Security which escalated at an alarming rate during the Bush era, needs to end. They are doing nothing to protect this country. But they are spending billions of dollars that could be spent on saving lives right here in the US.

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10. Good point. Expecting private, for-profit companies to defend the public interest

is ludicrous, a fairy tale.