EPIC news!

This is interesting. A privacy group called The Electronic Privacy Information Center wants to bring suit against the NSA over, basically, the stuff that figured in the Snowden revelations.

EPIC argued that it couldn't go the traditional route through the court system because the lower courts have no authority over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which monitors the NSA programs.

A handful of other law suits were filed in the aftermath of the NSA revelations, but EPIC’s Executive Director Marc Rotenberg told The New York Times, which first reported the move, that his group’s petition would be the first to challenge the FISA court’s ability to approve NSA requests to collect phone record data under the Patriot Act.

In their petition, EPIC argues the secret intelligence court “exceeded its statutory jurisdiction when it ordered production of millions of domestic telephone records that cannot plausibly be relevant to an authorized investigation.”

When was the last time the Supreme Court heard a case that did not work its way up through the lower courts? The Supremes may reject the case on that basis alone. Yet no lower court would have jurisdiction. Catch 22!

Julian Zelizer outlines the great dichotomy of our times: The Dems (at least some of them) have become the Repubs on national security matters...

The loss of a Democratic opposition to the framework of counterterrorism policy has been one of the most notable aspects of Obama's term in office. Although Obama ran in 2008 as a candidate who would change the way the government conducted its business and restore a better balance with civil liberties, it has not turned out that way. Obama has barely dismantled any of the Bush programs, and sometimes even expanded their reach in the use of drone strikes and the targeting of American citizens. He has also undertaken an aggressive posture toward those who criticize his program.

Equally notable has been how silent many liberals, who once railed against Bush for similar activities, have become in recent years. Whenever Obama has encountered conservative pushback for minor efforts to change national security operations, there has been little pressure from liberals for him to move in a different direction.

I cannot really agree. Better to say not enough pressure.

Think of it this way: When Dubya was president, how much from-the-right criticism did he receive -- on any issue? Even on sites like Daily Kos, there has been much criticism of Obama on issues like drones, Gitmo and NSA eavesdropping. I'm fairly proud of liberal orneriness. But we still aren't ornery enough, and we need more inside-the-beltway representatives who are willing to represent the ornery faction.

The whole "Snowden is a CIA plot against Obama" meme is driven to some degree by liberal refusal to see Obama's failings plainly. Maybe I'm wrong, but I honestly don't believe that Snowden is being "run" by anyone, because I don't believe that the leaders of the intelligence community would ever want to have a national discussion about how that community does business.