# Another fucking scandal?! WTF?! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 6, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289 "2013-06-06T14:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/81 "2013-06-07T19:38:54Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > Pretty sure this NSA thing isn’t going to be made up bullshit before it’s over… Well if it turns out that the President used campaign funds to order the NSA to spy on his political enemies and then had meetings in the oval office to plan how to cover it up you might be right. If the president went too far trying to gather information that would prevent future terrorist attacks, then it will blow over. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/82 "2013-06-07T23:14:59Z")
Anyone else notice it is the PATRIOT **Act**? As in, it was passed by Congress, and thus Obama can’t do anything about it? Did everyone forget the big speech he made just recently about how we’d gone too far with said act and how he wanted to stop it, and was going to work with Congress to do so? > [@PunditLisa](#): > > I welcome these scandals because it gives Jon Stewart good material to work with. No, it doesn’t, because he’s about to leave for the summer. ---
**Author:** ![TheLadyMage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@TheLadyMage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLadyMage)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/83 "2013-06-07T23:35:14Z")
And just to make everyone laugh and take away from the seriousness of the debate… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Lpux0WPPdZY/maxresdefault.jpg "SXEPHIL'S KEYWORD POETRY - THE MUSICAL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpux0WPPdZY) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/84 "2013-06-08T00:18:27Z")
Show me ONE Republican who would not have done this. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/85 "2013-06-08T00:38:57Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Show me ONE Republican who would not have done this. Yes, where is that pesky Scottsman? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/86 "2013-06-09T02:18:14Z")
And ultimately; > **[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Inflation](https://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2974)** > > Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Inflation ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/87 "2013-06-09T05:20:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > And the third group: liberals upset by Bush’s use of the tactic but now largely silent because it’s Obama’s administration. I assume they also bug you? > > For the record: I saw no problem with it when Bush did it and see no problem now. Why don’t you have a problem with it? I really have to know the answer to this. ---
**Author:** ![Gerald\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/88 "2013-06-09T08:20:31Z")
Some things never change. Because this shit happens during Obama’s presidency Republican supporters (not politicians) are only outraged NOW by what the NSA is doing. And Democrat supporters are more concerned with pointing out that Bush started it. When Democrat supporters were criticizing and protesting the Iraq Invasion Republicans were calling them unpatriotic and asking questions like, “why do they hate America?” Then when Republicans/Tea Party members were criticizing and protesting government spending and taxes Democrats were calling THEM unpatriotic and saying they’re un-American. Irony was seeing a Tea Party member with a sign that said “Dissent is patriotic.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/89 "2013-06-09T15:38:39Z")
Ah, for the good, old days when people who claimed the NSA existed were the crackpots. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/90 "2013-06-09T20:43:23Z")
> [@Gerald\_II](#): > > Some things never change. Because this shit happens during Obama’s presidency Republican supporters (not politicians) are only outraged NOW by what the NSA is doing. And Democrat supporters are more concerned with pointing out that Bush started it. Most the Dems I know are pretty upset about the scope of the surveillance. But it’s still not a _scandal_, other than it’s a scandal that this shit is apparently legal. When Democrat supporters were criticizing and protesting the Iraq Invasion Republicans were calling them unpatriotic and asking questions like, “why do they hate America?” Then when Republicans/Tea Party members were criticizing and protesting government spending and taxes Democrats were calling THEM unpatriotic and saying they’re un-American. [/QUOTE] What, for protesting, or for their particular aims? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/91 "2013-06-09T20:46:09Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Anyone else notice it is the PATRIOT **Act**? As in, it was passed by Congress, and thus Obama can’t do anything about it? Oh, gimme a break. The law authorized certain activities; that didn’t mean he had to have the NSA do them all, and it certainly didn’t mean he had to act on the widest interpretation of the law possible. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/92 "2013-06-09T21:58:57Z")
This could prove to be a great opportunity. The tighty rightys are tearing their hair and screaming about too much security apparatus? Too much intrusion, etc.? Totally an opportunity. Have the ACLU make up a set of guidelines and then hide their involvement behind Americans for Patriotic Liberty and Freedom, and it’ll go through Congress like shit through a goose. And if something happens and they start screaming about why we weren’t protected, just show them the voting rosters. Problem solved, you’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/93 "2013-06-10T02:28:06Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Even if you had Big Blue Godzilla, what search terms would you use? And where will you get five million hamsters? From the Lizard People. They keep quite a lot of them, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/94 "2013-06-10T09:54:56Z")
I wonder how many people in Congress, or this thread, or the world, or even the planet of the Lizard People have actually read and understood the Patriot Act. Want to? [Here it is.](http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ056.107.pdf) It’s like a book written in spaghetti code. I understand quantum mechanics and Kant, but this shit might as well be written in Easter Island glyphs. I don’t _think_ the Patriot Act gives the the president _jus primae noctis_, but I wouldn’t stake my life on it. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/95 "2013-06-10T12:21:09Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Why don’t you have a problem with it? I really have to know the answer to this. Because we live in a just world where our benevolent leaders have only our best interests at heart, where only the deserving are punished, and where the Law is King. Just a wild guess. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/96 "2013-06-10T13:42:26Z")
> [@Gerald\_II](#): > > Some things never change. Because this shit happens during Obama’s presidency Republican supporters (not politicians) are only outraged NOW by what the NSA is doing. And Democrat supporters are more concerned with pointing out that Bush started it. I think the evidence in this thread contradicts the latter assertion. It was just as stupid here as when **Bricker** asserted it previously. As a Democrat, my position is “You’re on board with opposition to this kind of shit now? Great, welcome to the club and let’s see if we can’t get this stuff stopped now.” In fact, I care about pointing out when it started in order to try to minimize the episodic, temporal, partisan nature of the opposition. That is, if the problem is who is doing it, it’s easy to just let all concern disappear when we elect new leaders. On the other hand, if it is always wrong, it’s easier to argue that it needs to be changed. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/97 "2013-06-10T13:44:13Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Because we live in a just world where our benevolent leaders have only our best interests at heart, where only the deserving are punished, and where the Law is King. > > Just a wild guess. More at the last bit, I suspect. The bottom line for **Bricker** has nothing to do with the intent or merit or justice of any particular behavior; everything depends solely on whether or not it has been codified into law. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/98 "2013-06-10T13:45:06Z")
[And another good SMBC on the subject](http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=3005#comic). And of course, [obligatory xkcd](http://xkcd.com/1223/). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/99 "2013-06-10T15:04:14Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Why don’t you have a problem with it? I really have to know the answer to this. Because I voluntarily send the same information that the government is gathering to any number of private entities, and so I know it’s not private. When I dial a number, the phone company(ies) involved have to know, and record, the number I’m calling from and the number I call. That’s a record. It exists. For what possible reason should my panties get in a twist because some other entity also copies that record? If I want to communicate privately, I’ll do so. But it won’t be by phone. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289/100 "2013-06-10T15:23:12Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Because I voluntarily send the same information that the government is gathering to any number of private entities, and so I know it’s not private. > > When I dial a number, the phone company(ies) involved have to know, and record, the number I’m calling from and the number I call. That’s a record. It exists. The difference is that the phone company really doesn’t seem to have much reason to use this information for any purposes other than billing. If they did put it to other uses, or if they shared my phone metadata with other companies that could put it to other uses, I’d be pretty upset, and would switch to Skype or some such. > [@](#): > > For what possible reason should my panties get in a twist because some other entity also copies that record? Because if this sort of data collection becomes the norm, then it won’t be a surprise when, one of these years, a President installs some toady at the head of NSA who, at the President’s behest, uses the agency’s data warehouse as a way to blackmail or publicly humiliate political enemies. You can imagine the conversations: “We know about all your calls and emails with Miss \_\_\_\_ and the time you spend at her place over lunch. I wonder if your wife would like to know about that too.” Or: “For a single man who isn’t seeing anyone right now, your credit card records sure do show that you buy a lot of lingerie.” > [@](#): > > If I want to communicate privately, I’ll do so. But it won’t be by phone. There’s no reason they can’t gather the same sort of metadata from the USPS. So that leaves face-to-face. And with the increasing number of security cameras everywhere, they’ll know where you were at, and will be able to suss out who you were talking to. But that’ll be OK with you too, I guess. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-scandal-wtf/660289.md?page=6)