When it comes to law enforcement and privacy: just follow the damn Constitution.
– Rep. Ted Lieu
I had never heard of Rep. Ted Lieu before a reader sent me an article highlighting his impassioned and intelligent statement in opposition to unconstitutional NSA surveillance. Mr. Lieu is a freshman member of Congress from California’s 33rd district, was born in Taiwan, and not only does he hold a computer science degree, but he is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserves.
In other words, he isn’t just another shifty lawyer trying to suck as much money as possible out of the system while pretending to play politician. This is what he had to say to Daniel Conley, the statist (or possibly merely clueless) district attorney from Suffolk County, Massachusett, in front of Congress recently.
*Warning: The following may prove shocking to the average American used to the deranged, crony, irrational, and incompetent ramblings of your average Congressperson. Remember, Mr. Lieu’s arrogance in speaking intelligently to an issue with which he has an expertise is inappropriate at best, terroristic at worst, and completely unacceptable in the Oligarch States of America.
From Rep. Lieu’s public statement, found at ArsTechnica:
It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem. Why do you think Apple and Google are doing this? It’s because the public is demanding it. People like me: privacy advocates. A public does not want an out-of-control surveillance state. It is the public that is asking for this. Apple and Google didn’t do this because they thought they would make less money. This is a private sector response to government overreach.
Then you make another statement that somehow these companies are not credible because they collect private data. Here’s the difference: Apple and Google don’t have coercive power. District attorneys do, the FBI does, the NSA does, and to me it’s very simple to draw a privacy balance when it comes to law enforcement and privacy: just follow the damn Constitution.
And because the NSA didn’t do that and other law enforcement agencies didn’t do that, you’re seeing a vast public reaction to this. Because the NSA, your colleagues, have essentially violated the Fourth Amendment rights of every American citizen for years by seizing all of our phone records, by collecting our Internet traffic, that is now spilling over to other aspects of law enforcement. And if you want to get this fixed, I suggest you write to NSA: the FBI should tell the NSA, stop violating our rights. And then maybe you might have much more of the public on the side of supporting what law enforcement is asking for.
Then let me just conclude by saying I do agree with law enforcement that we live in a dangerous world. And that’s why our founders put in the Constitution of the United States—that’s why they put in the Fourth Amendment. Because they understand that an Orwellian overreaching federal government is one of the most dangerous things that this world can have. I yield back.
Simply incredible. What’s also incredible is that it takes an immigrant to remind the American public that the Constitution still matters. If we had more computer science majors in Congress who believe in the Constitution, it’d be a lot harder for the statists to dazzle elderly, crony lawyers with bullshit into so easily suspending the Bill of Rights.
Now watch the man in his own words:
Thank you Rep. Ted Lieu. You did us all a national service.
For related articles, see:
GOP Establishment Queen Mitch McConnell Introduces Patriot Act Reauthorization with Zero NSA Reforms
By Demanding Backdoors to Encryption, U.S. Government is Undermining Global Freedom and Security
War on Encryption: Highlighting Two Crucial Articles on the Latest NSA Revelations
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
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Hmm. Seems Mr. Lieu better watch himself. It is not safe to anger the oligarchs and their supporters. They can take him out any time they please.
The reason he’s speaking sense is not because he’s a comp sci major but because he isn’t bought out by multinationals like the rest of ’em. Like it says, he’s only a freshman. Sounds like we need more fresh faces in politics
I agree. *BUT* “have essentially violated” is a carefully calculated phrase. they have not legally violated… but it’s because said Constitution and Bill of Rights were written too long ago to be relevant in these modern times. The 4th Amendment does not extend to 3rd party contracts, and since 1979 Smith v Maryland, the Gov has been able to take large swathes of data w/o a warrant, encrypted tho it might be.
The point being… read the Constitution, but why isn’t anyone talking about updating it? Privacy is different, speech is amplified and impacts differently, guns fire 1000’s of more rounds a minute, and….
\the 4th amendment needs to include personal data that extends beyond the person, and into 3rd party agreements. Without that, we’ll never legally have the right to protect our personal information.
Certainly a clarifying amendment could address any faulty decisions of the SCOTUS, such as those that declare such a limit on the 4th Amendment.
But any such amendment would have to be worded so as to identify those decisions as faulty. Otherwise the torturers of language will have gotten away with something.
If my meta data isn’t mine, does it belong to my mobile service provider? If so, then what crime is my service provider accused of committing to warrant the search and seizure of their property?
proud to have worked to get this man elected to the california state assembly and state senate. He’s one of the few politicians that really gets it when it comes to his role as a representative in government. I hope one day we can get this honorable vet in the white house, even if it means an amendment. Or governor of CA, that would be cool too.
the constitution…lol
thetruthaboutthelaw.com
Unfortunately it is not so much his computer science degree as his upbringing. I too hold the same degree and have worked for decades in the field. Majority of the other people I have worked with are leftist statists.
On second thought, maybe it is the CS degree. Many people in technology do not hold a CS degree. Also explains their shitty code and lack of logic when developing software.
Looks like the fellow in still photo of video is getting indigestion listening to a real People’s politician: “who forgot to bribe this newbie?”