Obama: The Sodomy Will Continue Until You Get Used To It

If I put this in a novel, people would say no way, it's too brazen, too bullshit, it could never happen.  But:  the "review" Obama says he wants of NSA activities?  He's going to have it run by James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence (to whom the NSA reports), the guy who lied to Congress about what the NSA is doing.  So... the NSA will be functionally reviewing itself, with the head of the review someone with a proven history of lying to Congress about the NSA.

Even if the review were being run by a trustworthy outsider instead of proven-liar-insider, its purview would be grounds for pause:

"The Review Group will assess whether, in light of advancements in communications technologies, the United States employs its technical collection capabilities in a manner that optimally protects our national security and advances our foreign policy while appropriately accounting for other policy considerations, such as the risk of unauthorized disclosure and our need to maintain the public trust."

Translation:  "We're going to ask, Can we collect even more than the 'all' we're already vacuuming up?  And can we do it in such a way that we'll have fewer leaks and the American people will squeal a little less?"  This is what Obama thinks America will accept as a "review."

As I said elsewhere:  "Shorter Obama: the NSA will go on fucking America's ass.  But we will consider using some lubricant."

I know it's not a surprise.  But it's still an outrage.  When the government's bullshit levels exceed what even fiction writers might consider plausible, it's probably not a good sign.