General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: For The Record: The NSA Spied on All Americans. It Is a Fact. [View all]AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Maybe suspected, but didn't know. Hell, congress doesn't know. I'm sure the NSA feels much more effective as an intelligence gathering service if it basically just doesn't report to anyone on its methods and capabilities.
Why bother? Just invites oversight and investigation. It's not like they have to report their budget. Much of the intelligence budget, from the NSA, to the NRO, is all black. They probably tell their congressional oversight some dribs and drabs of what they are up to but keep in mind, these people on the committee include shitbirds like Michelle Bachmann. If you were actually in charge of something important, right or wrong, and you had to report to an idiot like her, I think you'd play your cards close to the chest too.
And this is all assuming the NSA actually plays it straight, and just goes too far in gathering info. Meaning, to say that they only gather, and do not exert influence to maintain their reach, by making say, phone calls to committee members telling them how they'll vote on something, or else XYZ dalliance goes public, etc.
That's a lot of power, right there, just in the fact they are an intelligence gathering agency, and they have a black budget. Power does funny things to people. Even good people.