Greenwald said that he will release the names of Americans that were spied upon

[Aerows]

I'm going to wait for that to happen, but I expect that will be explosive.

Just remember - the government should not have been doing this in the first place, and if they get stung by doing illegal things, an average American would have been in jail for doing it.

[winter is coming]

1. It might be quicker to release a list of people *not* being spied on. n/t

[Javaman]

22. I have that list right here! Read below...

[Aerows]

24. DUzy!

[carolinayellowdog]

40. that was an authentic legitimate LAUGH OUT LOUD

no ROFL emoticons, a real laugh, thanks

[Luminous Animal]

2. I'm pretty sure it won't be specific names but groups.

[Jefferson23]

3. I would think so, if it were by name..wow. n/t

[JDPriestly]

12. I suspect it will be a mix of names and groups. But I wouldn't know.

[JaneyVee]

18. I suspect it's going to be Liberal activist groups

[Fred Drum]

4. The empire strikes back: How Brandeis foreshadowed Snowden and Greenwald

...


Over the past year or so we’ve heard plenty of hysterical Fox News patriots claiming that Snowden, and perhaps Greenwald too, were essentially terrorists who were likely or certain to cause the deaths of Americans (somehow), and who should be subjected to CIA kidnapping or summary drone execution. Those options were probably never on the table for a pair of white men born in the United States, but we’ll never know for sure. Michael Kinsley insists that we still live in a democracy, no matter how poorly it functions, and for the moment let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. So the rebels and renegades are under attack not from drones, spooks and imperial stormtroopers, but from so-called liberals who have forgotten the lessons of Justice Brandeis.


the whole article at Salon.com

[sabrina 1]

5. Good, we need to know who they are spying on. And why. We have handed over our National Security to

Private Security Contractors. Congress merely rubber stamps, or have up to now, what former Private Security Corp, Booz Allen CEO, Clapper, Bush loyalist and appointee, tells them he 'needs for our security' and voila, billions of tax dollars go to all those Private Security Contractors, only to have them spy on US.

It is SICKENING.

We already KNOW they have not caught a single terrorist, not even the Boston Bomber already known to the Intel Community thanks to the panel set up by Obama.

So WHO are they spying on? If that list doesn't contain actual terrorists, this program must be aborted and all the money spent retrieved from the scammers who have used 9/11 like any snake oil salesman, to scam the American people.

[Nobel_Twaddle_III]

6. that should be easy - everyone was

Especially people who posted on DU !

[defacto7]

7. I'd love to know if I was being spied upon.

I wonder what they got? A birthday email to my sister? A grocery list from my wife? E Gods I hope not! I'll be destroyed.

[LAGC]

8. Citizen, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

[defacto7]

9. But can they look in my sock drawer?

Ooops, I didn't say that.... Nothing in the sock drawer..

I said NOTHING in my SOCK DRAWER... no nothing there, nothing....

SOCK are in the sock drawer, just socks.... socks. 'cough'

[1000words]

15. Tsk, tsk ... "Citizen?" I think you mean "Consumer."

There will be a knock at your door shortly. A "consumer counselor" will escort you to the nearest mall for a target audience "focus group" meeting. Please bring a credit card and proof of health insurance coverage.

Thank you for patronizing the establishment. Your cooperation is important to us.

[Javaman]

21. If you write on DU, you probably have been spied on at one time or another. nt

[lostincalifornia]

27. It would depend on what is said. If someone posts on a public forum the intent to do an illegal

activity, the odds are they will be looked into.

If they just post political opinions or other commentary, I don't buy it.

[Javaman]

32. Most lf the time, the various search engines look for various words, combinations of words

or phrases.

It wouldn't take much.

and considering this being a political site, I'm sure, during the height of morons* reign of terror, we all were talking about various war related activities that would have subjected us to spying just by what we were writing.

[DeSwiss]

10. K&R

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Aerows.

[SoapBox]

13. I'm more worried about the Pay-to-Play Data Brokers...

Than I am about the NSA...I've nothing to hide from them...but these creeps that know EVERYTHING about you and will sell it to anyone...that, should be what is worrying people.

[blkmusclmachine]

14. If you're an American Citizen that uses a telecommunication device, you've been spied on. Routinely.

And records of all your communication have been warehoused since BEFORE 9/11.

Can't blame this on "terr'ists" anymore!

[Bad Thoughts]

16. Or what?

What is the point of this protracted reveal? Why does Greenwald treat this information, apparently vital to understanding the violation of our rights, as an object for a dramatic presentation?

Indeed, hasn't he given us this answer already: all of us, without exception?

[Mojorabbit]

25. Because he knows how news cycles work. Brilliant strategy. nt

[Bad Thoughts]

26. No, just more theater. eom.

[Mojorabbit]

28. Either way, it is still in the news and prompting discussion so it is working. nt

[Maedhros]

33. For one, he has been very careful about vetting the information released, which takes some time.

The number one criticism leveled at Assange/Manning was that they dumped all their information at once. Greenwald does not want to repeat that mistake.

[Bad Thoughts]

35. In which case Greenwald should have said nothing until the info was vetted.

Saying that he actually has this info is irresponsible , and it looks like either bluffing or throwing shit against the wall.

[Maedhros]

37. I don't see it as irresponsible.

And your opinion about what Greenwald "should have said" is simply that: your opinion, and not objective truth.

Bottom line: what the NSA has done and is doing are what I'm concerned with, not niggling details over how information is released to the public.

[JoeyT]

38. Because it's hilarious.

The NSA defenders man the ramparts and shout "THE NSA DOESN'T SPY ON AMERICANS AT ALL!", which is revealed to be a lie. Then it goes to "Only Americans in other countries/in contact with other countries!" which is shown to be a lie. Then they have to retreat to "It's just metadata! There's nothing personally identifiable there!", which is shown to be a lie (and was a stupid argument to begin with), and they retreat to "It's all legal! Warrants and everything which proves they're tarrarrists!" Warrants no one is allowed to see, of course, so there's no way of knowing if they're actually bothering with warrants or not. Until this list comes out and everyone says "What the fuck probable cause did they have for the ACLU/NAACP/Occupy/etc?"

Meanwhile to argue whatever their current position is, they have to pretend every position before that never existed. There's no way to get out in front of it.

[Octafish]

39. Thank you, JoeyT. Very well stated.

Hypocrisy for Fun and Profit.

[Lee-Lee]

17. This could be important in a legal sense

Knowing and having evidence that a certain person or group was targeted could be an important factor in two ways.

The first is that it could give legal standing for more and better lawsuits against the surveillance.

The second is that it is likely to stir a lot of outrage from people who previously felt disconnected from it.

[Aerows]

31. Precisely

Another point, too, is that once it is made public, those who knew about it (and did nothing about it) will be FORCED to do something about it to save face. If they are spying on government officials, those folks will have to address it to have any credibility.

We'll have to wait for the list, but personally I think it is going to explosive.

[randome]

19. Don't hold your breath.

Like his initial misconception that PRISM was a way for the NSA to basically download the Internet on a daily basis, this, too, will be overwrought and subject to many interpretations.

My guess is that it will have something to do with Americans overseas who were communicating with foreign criminal groups.

It will be the same as it always is for him: without context. And the same as it always is with the NSA. If they monitor a foreign group, they cannot 'unhear' or 'unsee' that group communicating with American citizens.

Any day now, Assange will release his 'poison pill' documents that will bring the financial industry to its knees.

Any day now, Occupy will have the 1%'ers on the run.

And any day now, Greenwald will stick it to the NSA.

I admire optimism but there comes a point, I would think, when these type of 'heroes' need to be acknowledged for what they are: unsuited to the job.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it."
Tony Randall, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)[/center][/font][hr]

[Fred Drum]

20. Whilst holding my breath

:download the Internet on a daily basis:

this is an accurate description of google

:Americans overseas who were communicating with foreign criminal groups :

please describe "foreign criminal groups"

and who you calling an american

[randome]

23. No, Google allows you to access publicly available data. It doesn't allow you to monitor anyone.

I have no idea what foreign criminal elements NSA is tasked with monitoring. Can't say I really care, either. I'm not interested in spy stuff.

The NSA is forbidden by law from domestic monitoring and Snowden has so far not shown evidence that they have broken that law.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

[uponit7771]

36. AMEN... It's NOT illegal to spy on Americans.... just like it's not illegal for Americans to drive..

...it is illegal for Americans to drive without the proper documents and same goes with spying

[PowerToThePeople]

29. He has a list of every US Citizen? n/t

[drm604]

30. I actually have mixed feelings about this.

If my name were on that list, I'd want to know privately, but I'm not sure that I'd want it released publicly.

There are plenty of people who will think that if you're on the list, there must be a good reason. Granted, they'd be wrong, but they'd believe it. There would also be people who know that you're innocent of any wrongdoing, but would want to avoid any association with you to avoid being targeted themselves. Being on that list could lead to loss of employment, loss of friends, maybe even threats or physical attacks from ignorant people who think you're a terrorist.

Maybe he should just notify people privately and let them decide whether or not they want to go public.

[Aerows]

34. I don't know what he's going to release

but I would hope that government officials are on the list. That way they will have to publicly address the spying regardless of whether they approve of it or not to retain their credibility. I can see your point, but I don't think he's going to release regular joe type names. I would think it will be more geared to those in government and corporate CEOs that can affect change.

I don't know, we'll have to wait and see what he releases.

[GeorgeGist]

41. I suspect many will be politicos.