Smoke and Mirrors

No, I didn't watch Obama's speech outlining WH reaction to reports prompted by NSA spying revelations.  I'm not disappointed I missed it.


I wasn't expecting much in the way of meaningful reform (I was wishing anyway, though) and what was posited was pretty cosmetic and had no real teeth. For a good analysis, read Glenn Greenwald's article for The Guardian here.  He did a fine job and it was good to see him writing at The Guardian. 


Take some time and peruse the comments, too.  Some of them are quite good.  One poster wanted to know what we can do. First, people need to wake up.  As I've said many times, I cannot believe there's no great outrage about this.  Second, there needs to be some way to collectively organize to really have an effect.  We must not let the issue "go away."  We must let them know we will not be satisfied with cosmetic reforms, but only with real change and real privacy protections. 


I've always believed in prayer and that might be a good start.  But let's remember a saying of my one (late) office mate.  He was also an ordained minister and he would say, "You have to put feet on your prayers."  in this case, we definitely need to find ways to do that.