Thousands Protest NSA!



Dear Conservative Ally Who is Being Treated as a Terrorist:



On July 4th, there were many “Restore the Fourth” Rallies in major cities aimed to draw attention to and to STOP the NSA from spying on average American citizens en masse.



We realize the National Security Agency might even be reading this particular email, but we don’t care.  Actually, we REALLY DO CARE!!  GOOD NEWS:  Specific legislation has been introduced into Congress to STOP this NSA SPYING on ordinary citizens, like you and me.



The LIBERT-E Act was introduced.  Already, it has nearly 40 Co-Sponsors---EQUALLY DIVIDED BETWEEN DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS!  That should tell you something!!



Edward Snowden is a 29-year-old high school dropout with a top secret clearance that is known now to the entire world.  This whistleblower hero has indicated to the Guardian that first published his story that there are “more leaks to come!”



“I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authority to wiretap anyone form you or your accountant, to a federal judge to even the president, if I had a personal email.”  Those chilling words of admission by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, has sent a firestorm throughout all of the United States, and now around the world!



He exposed our federal government secretive operation of literally SPYING on all Americans and their telephone numbers! (For starters!)



Totally ignoring our precious United States Constitution, the NSA is collecting and storing enormous amounts of information on every American! In short, YOU, my Friend, are being treated like a common criminal and a full-blown terrorist!  This must stop!



U.S. Representatives John Conyers (D-MI) and Justin Amash (R-MI) introduced the Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act (LIBERT-E Act) to stop the NSA abuses.



H.R. 2399 thrust is: “To prevent the mass collection of records of innocent Americans under section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended by section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, and to provide for greater accountability and transparency in the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.”



This act must be passed…NOW!



But here’s the kicker:  Not only are your telephone records and E-mails recorded, so are your post office “snail mail” letters!!  You read that correctly!



The New York Times reports that the United States Postal Service photographs the exterior of every piece of postal mail going through the system as part of the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program.  The data is retained for use by law enforcement as part of a scheme set up in the wake of anthrax attacks in late 2001 that killed five people, including two postal workers.



Law enforcement agencies submit a request for a mail cover direct to the Postal Service, which is able to grant or deny a request WITHOUT judicial review. 



FAX NOW!



What this all means is that the National Security Administration is, quite frankly, SPYING ON YOU!  It collects data on every American citizen: telephone records, e-mails, and now every envelope addressed by even your grandmother!



This is NOT a Republican issue.  This is NOT a Democrat issue.  This is an American Constitutional issue, where your privacy rights have been VIOLATED in several ways!  We must continue to be protected by our U.S. Constitution.  This reckless snooping on our every citizen is outrageous; and Congress MUST rein this in…and rein it in now!



I understand that our government needs to do all it possible can to catch terrorists before they act.  I get that.  However, the federal government gathering ALL this information on every ordinary citizen is a direct violation of your privacy.



The post-9-11 debate now rages again:  Individual privacy concerns versus more intensive measures to protect the United States from terrorist attacks.



The revealed government over-reach is astounding!  You are already being treated as a terrorist.  You must be aware of your extreme privacy breach by the government of the United States of America.



FAX CONGRESS NOW!



The man who currently fears for his life somewhere in the Russian airport, quietly explained: “Any analyst at any time can target anyone.  Any selector.  Anywhere.”  THAT MEANS YOU!



This is the biggest intelligence leak in the history of the National Security Agency.  Snowden claims he is risking everything to expose a “massive surveillance machine.” Snowden offers: “I’m willing to sacrifice all because I cannot in good conscience allow the United States government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.”



He continues: “I could not do this without accepting the risk of prison.  You can’t come against the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies and not accept the risk.  If they want to get you, over time they will…I do not expect to see home again.  The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won’t be able to help any more.  That’s what keeps me up at night!”



Congress has finally acted on behalf of U.S. citizens in a bi-partisan bill, H.R. 2399.  This must receive every American’s support for passage; along with the Senate counterpart, yet to be numbered!



Join the conversation on Facebook!



Part of this necessary bill instructs that the Attorney General reports within 45 days to every Member of Congress on certain “terrorist links” the government is following, via: telephone records, e-mails, and snail mail envelopes!  And within 180 days, the Attorney General must make summaries of these reports available to the United States public.  But the bill goes much deeper than that to protect the privacy of average, everyday American citizens!



Your privacy has been totally breached by the Obama government!  Many have come to the defense of this technician who told what was really going on in the NSA:



SECRET GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE OF AMERICAN PRIVATE CITIZENS!!



U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) asserted: “This is a good example of the fact that this is an issue that is neither Republican nor Democrat.  It’s neither liberal nor conservative.  It’s simply American!”



However, the White House defended the National Security Agency's need to collect telephone records of U.S. citizens, calling such information "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats."  But this government overreach really says that ALL United States citizens are terrorists, until proven otherwise; that’s not the original “innocent until proven guilty” that the United States Constitution reflects.



The federal government is now seizing private records without any meaningful civil due process that engages the American citizens affected.  Now we have a truly bi-partisan issue to STOP this privacy breach.  This will stretch the limits of every American on how far they are willing to trade their privacy for security from terrorism.



Please fax Congress today!



FAX NOW!



Sincerely,



Joe Otto


Conservative-Daily