World News Korner

President Obama to announce changes to the NSA on January 17.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:

President Obama will deliver his highly anticipated speech on reforms to the National Security Agency on Jan. 17, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Friday.

Carney did not elaborate on what the president will say when he outlines his vision for changes to the NSA’s vast surveillance activities. The address comes in the wake of disclosures from documents stolen by former government contractor Edward Snowden.

Obama and his aides have been focused behind the scenes this week on finishing a review of the spy programs and preparing for the president’s address to the nation. Privacy and civil liberties activists, along with top executives of technology company, are calling on the president to adopt sweeping reforms to curb the NSA’s collection of phone call metadata and personal information of online users.

These reforms are based on the 46 recommendations of the review group that was appointed by the President back in 2013. How many of the recommendations he will implement is still an open question.

I have said it before, but it bears repeating, the President HAS to do something significant on this issue or risk having his Presidency defined as an administration that had no respect for the privacy of the citizens of this country.

I think that it actually an unfair assertion, however there is no doubt that it has become a popular meme among a segment of the liberal demographic.

If President Obama wants to redefine his legacy he needs to do something that earns back at least some of that confidence in his respect for our rights.

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