NSA Disruption of Stock Exchange Bomb Plot Disputed

This is the wrong argument to have. The issue is not whether or not illegal surveillance has thwarted any plots.<p>We could put a video camera in every home that can&#x27;t be turned off and has a direct feed into the local police station. I&#x27;m sure that after a few months, the police could then point to all the crimes they&#x27;d discovered as a result.<p>Success rates are not the only consideration when determining whether or not we should give a particular power to the government.

It&#x27;s shocking how fast &quot;terrorism&quot; has been redefined from &quot;use of terror as a means of coersion&quot; to &quot;Islamic fundamentalists&quot; to &quot;evil&quot;.<p>These days politicians mix that word into a sentence with anything or anyone they want gone, and the public supports the cause, for fear of their own safety. The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis is strong.<p>But every now and then I like to think back to the original definition. By which it would seem that the United States&#x27; response to terrorism has been exponentially more terrorism.<p>Were it not for all of these shenanigans maybe we could have all healed from 9&#x2F;11 by now.

The only thing that scares me more than terrorism is U.S. policymakers&#x27; reaction to terrorism.<p>I&#x27;m not sure which civil liberty they&#x27;ll strike down next in the name of preventing future attacks. Their means-to-an-end attitude exposes not only hysteric, irrational thinking, but a fundamental misunderstanding of the Constitution.

<i>Fowler declined to comment any further, including whether he would seek to reopen the case, given the government admitting that secret, and constitutionally suspect, methods were used to gain access to his phone records.</i><p>Well that&#x27;s troubling.

<i>“Hasanoff relayed that the New York Stock Exchange was surrounded by approximately four streets...&quot;</i><p>I love that. It captures downtown Manhattan perfectly.

<i>spy techniques publicly disclosed two weeks ago had halted some 50 terror attacks in 20 countries</i><p>Sean Joyce, modern day <i>Iraqi Information Minister</i>. Reference: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Muhammad_Saeed_al-Sahhaf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Muhammad_Saeed_al-Sahhaf</a>

If they lock everyone up, I am sure the crime rate would be zero.

The Stock Exchange isn&#x27;t a place anymore but a network.

This reminds me of that time the FBI caught a black kid taking pictures of his family at Disney World, and then claimed they prevented the next 9&#x2F;11. Oh wait, this exact same thing has happened literally dozens of times.

Well there is a bigger list of plots that has not been prevented.

It&#x27;s also irrelevant. We&#x27;re here to talk about their crime spree, not any supposed good works done during.