A secret court order signed by a FISA judge requires Verizon w/ tens of millions customers "to provide the NSA w/ daily information on all telephone calls by its subscribers w/in the U.S." The Center for Constitutional Rights says it requires no level of suspicion & does not require a showing of probable cause. This secret order is just data mining w/o cause or suspicion & clearly unConstitutional.

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Boycott London Olympics 2012 political terror fake by tonynetone

A cover of George Orwell's fictional "1984"

Is there any further need to doubt whether we have become the modern day equivalent of George Orwell's fictional "1984"?

Through a top secret court order signed by a FISA judge it requires Verizon, one of the largest phone companies in America with tens of million customers "to provide the NSA with daily information on all telephone calls by its customers within the United States and from foreign locations into the United States." [1]

The website of the Guardian newspaper first reported the secret order and produced a copy "which two former U.S. officials told the Washington Post appears to be authentic". [2]  

The Center for Constitutional Rights, which has filed a suit against the governments "surveillance practices" issued a statement that the latest court order "requires no level of suspicion and applies to all Verizon subscribers anywhere in the U.S. It also contains a gag order prohibiting Verizon from disclosing information about the order to anyone other than its counsel". [3]

Further the order "does not require a showing of probable cause to believe the targets are agents of a foreign power." [4]

  Obama administration officials have defended the broad surveillance powers as being under the Patriot Act "saying the information has been vital in uncovering and disrupting terrorist plots". [5]

Please. This secret court order is just data mining without cause or suspicion and clearly un-Constitutional and an infringement of the 4 ^th Amendment not allowing "unreasonable searches and seizures"

But what else is new? The Constitution has already been shredded by the last two administrations practices using the extra legal "unitary executive" as cover whereby the Congress and the courts have no right to challenge the executive (created by the George W. Bush administration); this being established by the Congressional resolution after 9/11 known as "The authorization for Use of Military Force" (AUMF) that grants the president the authority to use all "necessary and appropriate force against those that planned, authorized and committed the September 11 attacks."

To say this Congressional resolution has been broadened beyond all recognition and abused is clearly evidenced by Obama using it as cover in authorizing the assassination of anyone, including American citizens anywhere in the world, with no need for evidence, charges or due process and given further legal cover by Justice Department memos but kept secret for reasons of national security.

So along with the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) of 2010, that authorizes the military to detain anyone, including American citizens, indefinitely, without charges, Habeas Corpus and due process, (at the sole discretion of the president), this new data mining surveillance order giving the NSA access to ALL phone records of Verizon customers helps to re-confirm the further demise of our democracy into an authoritarian dictatorial state.

Constitutional democracies with a representative form of government, built in checks and balances with real oversight and enforcement duty and responsibility and a court system that affirms the rights of its citizens, defends them against the illegal intrusions of that government and not giving the executive the power and authority to circumvent the Constitution and the rule of law is sadly missing in our supposed republican form of government.

The stars and stripes should be flown upside down as a sign of our distress or maybe at half mast as a sign of our death as a functioning democracy.

Authors Website: dglefc22733@aol.com

Authors Bio:
Retired. The author of "DECEIT AND EXCESS IN AMERICA, HOW THE MONEYED INTERESTS HAVE STOLEN AMERICA AND HOW WE CAN GET IT BACK", Authorhouse, 2009