Marco.org

The New York Times:

Agencies working to curb drug trafficking, cyberattacks, money laundering, counterfeiting and even copyright infringement complain that their attempts to exploit the security agency’s vast resources have often been turned down because their own investigations are not considered a high enough priority, current and former government officials say.

The mere possibility that the NSA’s data might be used to combat alleged or suspected crimes in areas as unimportant as copyright infringement should scare any intelligent person.

But the NSA was able to build so many internet- and telephone-spying networks so easily, and are clearly going to be permitted to continue building, operating, and spying in similar and even more ubiquitous ways, that it would be foolish to think that they’ll be the only governmental or pseudo-governmental agency with these capabilities for long. (They probably already aren’t.)

If they can get away with it — and they will, because people care more about Weiner’s weiner and celebrity babies — there’s nothing to stop anyone else from doing the same thing.

Intelligence officials say they have been careful to limit the use of the security agency’s troves of data and eavesdropping spyware for fear they could be misused in ways that violate Americans’ privacy rights.

Excuse me?

Americans demand no privacy rights and enforce no privacy rights, and therefore have no privacy rights.

But suppose we did. How are we doing at enforcing our most basic, fundamental, long-held legal rights? Let’s see… nope, nope, nope, nope.

Yup.