Is Having James Clapper in Charge of National Intelligence the Same as America Having the Clap? — Probably — Crypto Autocracy in Action on Independence Day, 2013

© 2013 Peter Free

 

03 July 2013

 

 

A day before the Fourth of July, I do not think that the American flag still represents the head held high Freedom that it used to

 

Caught lying to Congress — thanks to Edward Snowden’s revelations about Government snooping in violation of the Fourth Amendment — National Intelligence Director, James Clapper, was motivated to write an insincere apology to Senator Dianne Feinstein:

 

 

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper apologized to Congress in a letter released today for giving a “clearly erroneous” answer to a question about whether the government collects data on millions of Americans.

 

“My response was clearly erroneous – for which I apologize,” Clapper wrote in a letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

 

The letter came after Clapper was accused of lying in response to a question by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., about whether the National Security Agency collects “any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans.”

 

In his March testimony, Clapper answered “no,” later adding, “not wittingly.”

 

It was later revealed that the NSA does collect “metadata” from telephone and Internet companies on millions of Americans – information that reveals information like the time, date and phone numbers of telephone calls, not the content of those calls.

 

“In light of Sen. Wyden’s reference to ‘dossiers’ and faced with the challenge of trying to give an unclassified answer about our intelligence collection activities, many of which are classified, I simply didn’t think of Section 215 of the Patriot Act,” which allows the government to collect “business records” or metadata from telephone and Internet companies, Clapper said.

 

“Instead, my answer addressed collection of the content of communications.”

 

© 2013 Abby D. Phillip, James Clapper Apologizes to Congress for ‘Clearly Erroneous’ Testimony, ABC News (02 July 2013)

 

 

Perspective on this

 

Journalist Glenn Greenwald, wondering about noticeably skewed American sensibilities — which magnify Edward Snowden’s alleged wrongdoing and completely overlook those attributable to our autocratic government — asked:

 

 

How is this not a huge scandal?

 

Intentionally deceiving Congress is a felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison for each offense.

 

Reagan administration officials were convicted of misleading Congress as part of the Iran-contra scandal and other controversies, and sports stars have been prosecuted by the Obama DOJ based on allegations they have done so.

 

© 2013 Glenn Greenwald, James Clapper, EU play-acting, and political priorities, The Guardian (03 July 2013) (paragraph split)

 

Apparently, the public accepts that the Department of Justice is so petty-minded as to prosecute athletes for the offense of lying to save their behinds regarding steroid use — but simultaneously fails to prosecute:

 

(a) bankers, who collapsed the entire world economy

 

or

 

(b) Government officials who are earnestly turning the American republic into an autocracy.

 

 

It’s not just Director Clapper, of course

 

As journalist Greg Miller discovered:

 

 

[D]etails that have emerged from the exposure of hundreds of pages of previously classified NSA documents indicate that public assertions about these programs by senior U.S. officials have also often been misleading, erroneous or simply false.

 

[T]he NSA [has] quietly removed from its Web site a fact sheet about its collection activities because it contained inaccuracies discovered by lawmakers.

 

A week earlier, President Obama, in a television interview, asserted that oversight of the surveillance programs was “transparent” because of the involvement of a special court, even though that court’s sessions and decisions are sealed from the public.

 

© 2013 Greg Miller, Misinformation on classified NSA programs includes statements by senior U.S. officials, Washington Post (30 June 2013) (at third paragraph)

 

Here we see that the Great Potentate in Chief — one time professor of American constitutional law — apparently was dropped on his head as a baby and has no idea what the phrase “transparency in government” actually means.

 

 

The moral? — Independence Day’s true meaning

 

I do not think that the current U.S. Crypto Autocracy is one that 1776’s Americans intended to sacrifice their lives for.