Hope and change, baby
by digby
Congress finally had enough. Almost one year after the first disclosure about the NSA’s abusive surveillance programs, the House Judiciary Committee made history on Wednesday when it voted unanimously to pass the USA FREEDOM Act. Much to our surprise, the House Intelligence Committee followed suit yesterday and also unanimously passed the same version of the bill. The next step: consideration by the full House of Representatives.
While this version is lacking some of the key privacy protections included in the original, it is an important step to reining in the surveillance state. At base, the bill attempts to stop the government from sweeping up personal information without having to present a compelling reason to a judge.
Will this be enough? Of course not. Half the time these actions serve to legalize what was formerly illegal. So keep your eye on the prize. But it does mean that the government has been forced to take a hard look at these programs and at least acknowledge that the people have reason to be concerned.
Oh, and it totally would have happened without Edward Snowden. Obviously. He should have to pay a very stiff price for making our government accountable to the people. We just can’t have that.
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