Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by CoolHand on Wednesday May 06 2015, @08:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the for-very-large-values-of-unreasonable dept.

When the United States Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson was asked, "do you believe the government has the right to bulk collection of records from millions of individuals without a warrant", his response was that the question was "beyond my competence as secretary of homeland security" to answer.

The original article touches on some important details and raises key criticisms of the slipshod method currently used to obtain communications records for millions of people from US phone companies in violation of the spirit, if not letter, of the US Constitution's Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable government searches and seizures.

Source video for quotes and context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_auHdE89qQ

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @10:34AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @10:34AM (#179445)

    It isn't his job to make the rules. Answering the question as worded on belief is not appropriate either. At some point in your life you have to realize that, when in a position of power, it is inappropriate to say things publicly that are contrary to whatever your boss says. Even more so when that could change any moment. Better to say nothing.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +2  
       Interesting=1, Informative=1, Total=2
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @11:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @11:53AM (#179460)

    But it is his job to follow the rules! I think we have a powerful and recent affirmation that just following orders is not enough:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befehl_ist_Befehl [wikipedia.org]

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by deathlyslow on Wednesday May 06 2015, @12:10PM

    by deathlyslow (2818) <wmasmith@gmail.com> on Wednesday May 06 2015, @12:10PM (#179464)

    It isn't his job to make the rules. Answering the question as worded on belief is not appropriate either. At some point in your life you have to realize that, when in a position of power, it is inappropriate to say things publicly that are contrary to whatever your boss says. Even more so when that could change any moment. Better to say nothing.

    But shouldn't you be be willing to use "your position of power" to do the morally/ethically/legally right thing. When I took my enlistment oath I swore to uphold and protect the Constitution from ALL enemies foreign and domestic. The Federal oath is quite similar. Here's my enlistment oath

    "I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

    and the Federal oath

    I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

    I don't see anything in there about the party line. Jus the good old Constitution, which last I checked was supposed to trump the POTUS.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @12:18PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @12:18PM (#179467)

      If you took your oath so seriously, why haven't you upheld it?

      Go and do something to stop people from violating the constitution. Of course you will be immediately labeled a domestic terrorist, probably killed, and if in the unlikely event you do survive will spend the rest of your life in solitary. But still, tell us more about how this pencil pusher should take risks you wont.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by deathlyslow on Wednesday May 06 2015, @12:39PM

        by deathlyslow (2818) <wmasmith@gmail.com> on Wednesday May 06 2015, @12:39PM (#179472)

        I know don't feed the trolls but I can't let this sit idle. Did you ever serve or even attempt to serve in the military? I did, I also got a medical discharge due to blowing out my knee after fighting to getting waivers to even go to basic training. I vote, do you? I've written to my congress critters, have you. I've never had to do jury duty before but I'm at least willing to do so. And yes I'm a member of the well regulated if not well armed militia. That MY Constitution's second amendment calls for. If it comes to that point I will take a position of honor beside my brothers and sisters to take the country back by force as a last resort if necessary. If you won't, shut up and get out of the way. If you can't be bothered to even put your pseudonym on here I seriously doubt that you have the guts to take a stand for anything.
        There's a sig running around here that states something along the lines of "There are four boxes to be used in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury and ammo. Please use in that order." There's a lot of truth to that statement.

        • (Score: 2, Troll) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday May 06 2015, @12:48PM

          by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday May 06 2015, @12:48PM (#179474)

          If you can't be bothered to even put your pseudonym on here I seriously doubt that you have the guts to take a stand for anything.

          Yeah, what a coward. You're truly brave for using a certain name online.

          No need for the non sequiturs. Just because someone doesn't have an account on a certain website or chooses to post anonymously sometimes doesn't mean they don't take stands for anything.

          • (Score: 3, Touché) by deathlyslow on Wednesday May 06 2015, @01:56PM

            by deathlyslow (2818) <wmasmith@gmail.com> on Wednesday May 06 2015, @01:56PM (#179496)

            It's not about an account. I mean come on even Gewg puts his "name" to his posts. If your going to make statements about standing up for something I find it hard to take it seriously when you can't be bothered to at least take some ownership of your comments. It's a respect thing. Maybe I'm old fashioned, I am certainly old, but it still means something to me to be a man of your word and own what you say and do.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @02:00PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @02:00PM (#179501)

              It was you that made statements [wikipedia.org] about standing up for something. I merely pointed out that you did not uphold your word as there are violators of the constitution that you have done nothing to stop. Why respect that?

            • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday May 06 2015, @02:08PM

              by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday May 06 2015, @02:08PM (#179507)

              Using some arbitrary name online or choosing not to has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you are an activist in real life.

              If your going to make statements about standing up for something I find it hard to take it seriously when you can't be bothered to at least take some ownership of your comments.

              Then you're focusing on the person rather than the content, which isn't very logical.

              It's a respect thing.

              I don't find it disrespectful to not use an account on a website to post comments.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @01:36PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @01:36PM (#179490)

          If you can't be bothered to even put your pseudonym on here I seriously doubt that you have the guts to take a stand for anything.

          Having an account does not mean anything unless you are Michael David Crawford. Serving in the military also has not meant much in many years. Good job on being part of the militia though.

          • (Score: 1) by deathlyslow on Wednesday May 06 2015, @02:07PM

            by deathlyslow (2818) <wmasmith@gmail.com> on Wednesday May 06 2015, @02:07PM (#179506)

            Having an account does not mean anything unless you are Michael David Crawford.

            See my last response to Anal Pumpkin.

            Serving in the military also has not meant much in many years. Good job on being part of the militia though.

            Serving does still mean a great deal to many people. To me it means the willingness to take up the burden of protecting the peoples of our country and helping those in other countries who can't help themselves, regardless of your stand on the cause of the problems. It stands for a path to a better life for many who otherwise would not be able to get better themselves and their families. It stands for the courage to take up arms and even lay down your life for your brothers beside you. It's hard to describe really. As to the last part of your statement you say that like it's a bad thing.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @03:22PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @03:22PM (#179552)

              Serving means a lot to many people but in recent years it is questionable if the use of the US military has been as noble as the intentions of those who join. The country would be a better place if those who call the shots were as patriotic as new recruits.

              It is good that you are in the militia and I appreciate it.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @05:09PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @05:09PM (#179584)

                You DO realize that the militia and the military are the same thing, right? Half of the US military is made up of reservists and national guardsmen, ie, the militia. The only difference between "the militia" and "the military" is whether or not you're getting paid by the federal government.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @05:59PM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @05:59PM (#179605)

                  People in the military are pawns that are controlled by those with power. People in the militia are volunteers and are not under ordered around by politicians.

                • (Score: 2) by curunir_wolf on Wednesday May 06 2015, @07:20PM

                  by curunir_wolf (4772) on Wednesday May 06 2015, @07:20PM (#179632)

                  reservists and national guardsmen, ie, the militia.

                  That's not the militia.

                  The organized militia consists of State militia forces, notably the National Guard and the Naval Militia. The National Guard, however, is not to be confused with the National Guard of the United States, which is a federally recognized reserve military force.

                  The reserve militia are defined as consisting of every able-bodied man of at least 17 and under 45 years of age who is not a member of the National Guard or Naval Militia.

                  --
                  I am a crackpot
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @10:21PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @10:21PM (#179688)

              You want posters to use names instead of ACing, and then you do this:

              See my last response to Anal Pumpkin.

              ????

              Why would I want to us a screen name, only to have it mangled into something quite possibly obscene by an anonymous ammo-sexual malingerer?

        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @01:57PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @01:57PM (#179498)

          So you have done absolutely nothing to protect the constitution. Voting does not protect it. Writing letters does not protect it. Blowing a knee in basic is not at all a service to the country. An average mailman does orders of magnitude more.

          If you have "guts" put your name and address out. I already have a pseudonym. It is AC, and we are legion. That is one thing I can prove.