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posted by martyb on Sunday December 04 2016, @03:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the lets-start-the-monitoring-with-all-those-in-power dept.

The FBI, National Security Agency and CIA are likely to gain expanded surveillance powers under President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress, a prospect that has privacy advocates and some lawmakers trying to mobilize opposition.

Trump's first two choices to head law enforcement and intelligence agencies -- Republican Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general and Republican Representative Mike Pompeo for director of the Central Intelligence Agency -- are leading advocates for domestic government spying at levels not seen since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Police state surveillance is only bad when the other party does it.


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 04 2016, @04:49PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 04 2016, @04:49PM (#436915)

    There is the sensibility that, especially at this juncture, we don't need government as much as administration. People by and large get on with their lives indifferent to government for the most part. In a sense this is the highest form of government in that it just works without being noticeable or intrusive to people. People often forget how several aspects of the government just work.

    I've also kicked around the notion of Total Government where the enterprise of government becomes so all-encompassing that everyone is a member of some politburo of some sort in another take on representative democracy. One the one hand the power of government is absolute, but it is so diffuse it is essentially powerless. If it could work, it keeps government ineffectual except for really big decisions with popular support. So far, the UN has proven otherwise.

    Anyway, the point being is that it less about the power of government as much as how that power is allocated. The libertarian/small government sensibility is all but one of the ways government power can be kept in check. Not saying that one is inherently better than the other, but there are many ways to skin that cat.

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