NSA Surveillance Program Transparent Enough for Barack Obama
President Obama's on the defensive on the latest scandal to embroil his administration. Unlike the IRS scandal, the president doesn't claim to have heard about this one on the news with the rest of us. Nevertheless, he doesn't see what the problem is.
President Obama is defending National Security Agency surveillance programs, and disputing the notion that he is following in the footsteps of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
In a PBS interview with Charlie Rose, Obama said efforts to track terrorists through phone and Internet surveillance have safeguards to prevent abusing the civil liberties of innocent Americans. Obama cited both congressional and judicial oversight.
When Rose asked, "should this be transparent in some way?" Obama responded: "It is transparent. That's why we set up the FISA court."
Critics note that this court -- created through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- issues rulings in secret.
How newspeaky.
Follow these stories and more at Reason 24/7 and don't forget you can e-mail stories to us at 24_7@reason.com and tweet us at @reason247.
