back to article US House reps green-light Fourth Amendment busting spy program

The US House of Representatives has passed a six-year extension to the controversial Section 702 spying program, rejecting an amendment that would have required the authorities to get a warrant before searching for information on US citizens. The 256-164 vote effectively retains the status quo and undermines a multi-year …

  1. Ugotta B. Kiddingme
    Big Brother

    Shock! Amazement!

    or, you know, actually none whatsoever...

  2. ratfox
    Pint

    It appears he posted his first tweet immediately after a Fox News analyst said that the vote was a bad idea.

    For somebody who does not drink alcohol, Trump acts very much like a drunkard.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "[...] acts very much like a drunkard."

      Drunk on power?

    2. kain preacher

      he is a coke addict.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Trump acts very much like a drunkard.

      A semi-literate, gobshite drunkard. I can be drunk, still have some modest degree of literacy, and avoid more more extreme tendencies when half cut. For readers of Viz, I put it to you that the so-called "Donald Trump" is in fact none other than The Brown Bottle.

      Many UK conservatives will be ashamed of the incompetent bag-lady that we have as prime minister, but looking at the mad, rambling idiot the Yanks have got, the dictator running Turkey, the loons running Greece, the opportunist running France, and so forth, we're not as badly placed as some.

      1. kain preacher

        Church Hill was a functioning drunk. What's trumps excuse ?

        1. Someone Else Silver badge

          @kain preacher --

          Church Hill was a functioning drunk. What's trumps excuse ?

          Drumpf is non-functioning.

      2. Someone Else Silver badge

        @Ledswinger --

        You forgot the abject criminal running the Philippines....

      3. handleoclast

        Re: The Brown Bottle

        @Ledswinger

        You deserve several pints for that.

        As does H L Mencken with this remarkably prescient quote:

        As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

      4. Stu Mac

        Although he did somehow manage to make a few billion and score the top job, while you.....

        It's amazing how many people *still* don't get it.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Most of us would be billionaires if we got the head start he did with a father worth hundreds of millions.

      5. unwarranted triumphalism

        > readers of Viz

        Thanks for letting me know that I don't need to read any more of your comments.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Perhaps he should start drinking heavily. It might improve things.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      He acts exactly like all the news reports say he does

      He believes whoever talked to him last. If Trump TV Fox News was off the air for a morning and Trump had to watch MSNBC instead, he'd be advocating for single payer health care by lunch.

      He put on a real time demonstration of this with his televised "meeting" a couple days ago where Pelosi got him to agree to a clean DACA bill until one of the house republicans talked him down. I think he was hoping to disprove the accounts in the book, but all he did was convince arch conservatives like Ann Coulter that it was all true!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    SOP

    It doesn't matter what the US House of Representatives votes for or against, there's another law there that's secret and permits them to continue the program regardless - sorry, the law also prevents me from telling you any further details.

  4. Gene Cash Silver badge

    I miss Senator Al Franken. He was pretty strongly against this sort of thing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Unfortunately there are too few who believe this in either party. At least if it could be turned into a partisan issue either the republicans would eliminate it now or the democrats would next time they have power. Since both parties agree with the bullshit, we're going to be stuck with it until another Snowden style leak shows the scale of it to the average person. Then maybe...

    2. unwarranted triumphalism

      Too bad he wasn't against sexual harrassment. But I guess it's OK if you're a Democrat, right?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    TDS strikes again

    FTA:

    "That statement went directly against the White House's own position..."

    The statement criticizes how the FISA program has been run lately. It dies not criticize the program itself.

    There IS a difference. Fail.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Re: TDS strikes again

      > The statement criticizes how the FISA program has been run lately.

      No, the statement criticizes how NSA intercepted electronic communications between former National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynn and former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

      The contents of these communications contradicted Michael T. Flynn's statements.

      Go ask Kelyanne Conway for an updated talking points sheet. The one you got right now is past its expiration date.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: TDS strikes again

        ST sez:

        "No, the statement criticizes how NSA intercepted electronic communications between former National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynn and former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak."

        In an alternate universe maybe. Here's the statement:

        "House votes on controversial FISA ACT today," Donald tweeted. "This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?"

        ST, your claim flies directly in the face of reality. Care to retract, fule?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Mushroom

          Re: TDS strikes again

          > flies directly in the face of reality

          1. Can you read English?

          2. Retract <this>.

          HTH.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: TDS strikes again

            I rest my case.

  6. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    FAIL

    So 92 con-gress people don't really understand this whole "Constitution" thing?

    Y'know? Protecting the American people from it's government.

    Another 6 f**king years of this s**t?

    Yupe, looks like it.

    Americans. Take Back Your Government

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So 92 con-gress people don't really understand this whole "Constitution" thing?

      > Another 6 f**king years of this s**t?

      Midterm elections are only one year away. Nazis^H^H^H^H^HRepublicans are retiring in droves. There's a chance, not sure if it's a good chance, but a chance never the less, that the Dems could take control of Congress.

      I'd love to see the Dems shut down presidential nominations until the next election the same way the N^Ha^Hz^HRepublicans shut down the Garland nomination. I don't usually wish ill on people but I hope McConnell succumbs to an extremely painful heart attack.

      The Dems in control of Congress would certainly take the edge off. No, don't want to impeach Twitler, because Pence is an even bigger asshole.

      1. Someone Else Silver badge

        Re: So 92 con-gress people don't really understand this whole "Constitution" thing?

        No, don't want to impeach Twitler, because Pence is an even bigger asshole.

        Well, if you get rid of Pence...then there's Lyin' Ryan.

        After that, there's Orrin Hatch.

        Then, if we succeed there, there's...big Oil Rex Tillerson.

        Gad! This is getting ugly! After that, there's Gimme a Ticket on an (expensive) Air-o-plane Steve Mnuchin.

        After that....

        Fuck! We're Doomed!!!!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Democrats are going to take the house this year, so what?

        Won't make a bit of difference when the next vote for section 702 comes. Or have you not looked at who voted on which side and what parties they're from. It is a minority in both parties who are against this (true liberals and "libertarian" republicans, i.e. only those who care about individual rights) while the mainstream in both parties is firmly behind it - because they have done the political calculation and figure 'better safe than sorry' when it comes to giving homeland security whatever they want Constitution be damned!

  7. DeKrow
    Trollface

    Just setting a precedent

    They're actually being very clever. By setting a precedent that they can pass legislation that effectively ignores parts of the constitution (whether literally or 'in spirit'), it's paving the way for tougher gun laws because constitutional arguments against gun control will no longer have any sway.

    Taking off the troll mask for a minute, they can write words to get around the literal meaning of the constitution in order to pass police-state-style legislation like this, but no amount of English-language sorcery can explain itself around breaking the mathematical rules behind encryption. Thank goodness.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just setting a precedent

      Nah, they'll just run amok over our rights until someone with deep enough pockets, e.g. the ACLU, brings it to SCOTUS. But with Gorsuch in bed with the Nazis, good luck with that.

  8. Kev99 Silver badge

    Мы никогда не будем лишать наших граждан своих прав.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    3 CHEERS FOR ANOTHER 6 YEARS OF UNRESTRAINED SPYING ON AMERICANS

    Well done! I love the part where it's all non-reviewable. You wouldn't want some pesky judge getting in the way.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Who would want to live

    in such a Shit hole country ?

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Remind me now why...

    It is so important to have backdoored encryption? I would have thought this was enough!

  12. PyLETS
    Black Helicopters

    Smokescreen

    If the NSA want to do illegal surveillance within the US of US citizens, I thought that's what they paid GCHQ to do for them legally.

  13. unwarranted triumphalism

    No surprise

    That the current administration is cracking down on terrorists and criminals. The ususal suspects can complain all they like but the world is a very different place now.

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