Guesses on which President?
h/t to zerohedge for dragging this NYTarticle out of the way back machine.
With the daily Snowden drama it is easy to forget the main issue here, the one Snowden was trying to bring to our attention. That issue is that ...
The NSA possesses great potential power. If there is not truly independent oversight then this power is susceptible to abuse ... as it was under another President.
That other President was of course - Richard Nixon.
One shudders at the thought of what he would have done had he had access to the tools of today, and that should be a flashing, screaming warning of what COULD happen if this technology were to be misused.
Nixon and his most senior aides spent hours discussing plans to use Federal law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to conduct domestic spying operations against Americans.
In 1970, Nixon personally approved the most radical of these plans. It was called ''the Huston plan,'' after its author, Tom Charles Huston, a White House aide.
In that same conversation, Nixon anticipated a story saying ''the President authorized a super-duper activity in 1970'' involving ''burglary, etc., and wiretapping.'' Defiantly, he said Americans would understand the plan was to control riots by people protesting the Vietnam War.
''There are times, you know, when, good God, I'd authorize any means to achieve a goal abroad'' -- including ''the breaking-in of embassies and so forth.''
I suggest that you read the whole article -
http://www.nytimes.com/... as a reminder that this is not a one day issue, nor a one whistleblower issue.
Edward Snowden is trying to warn us, not just about what has been done, but also about what could be done with these tools if they were to come under the control of the wrong hands.
and a little bit more ... to confirm the "attitude" of the folks we are dealing with. Here is the headline from the Guardian today - Clapper: I gave 'erroneous' answer because I forgot about Patriot Act http://www.guardian.co.uk/... Really? Seriously?