General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: it isn't the legalities...it's the betrayal that's pissing people off [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)and not waited until Snowden came forth. Had he done this, we really could have had a good, national discussion about it, but now, we feel betrayed.
Today I spoke to a woman that I think of as a disgruntled conservative. She doesn't like the wars, but she thinks Democrats don't have the answers. She is probably a real independent. She is angry about the surveillance program, and it woke her up to an obvious contradiction: if we are so close to broke that we have to cut Social Security benefits, why are we spending so much money on this enormous surveillance program?
I think that a lot of Americans are asking that question. This surveillance program is a luxury, and we have been told we can't afford luxuries -- like food stamps for everyone who will go hungry without them.
Obama has really missed it by not going to the people as soon as Republicans started playing the austerity card and asking us about our priorities. I think we would all like to see less money spent on anti-terrorist reactions and on wars. Those are two areas on which we have drastically overspent. And this secret surveillance program proves it.