Your Independent Panel of Privacy Rights Investigators

A group of veteran security experts and former White House officials has been selected to conduct a full review of U.S. surveillance programs and other secret government efforts disclosed over recent months, ABC News has learned.

[...]

Joining [Michael] Morell on the panel will be former White House officials Richard Clarke, Cass Sunstein and Peter Swire.

  Yahoo

Flashback:  January 2010

Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama’s closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs.”

[...]

Sunstein advocates that the Government’s stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups.” He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging (on the ground that those who don’t believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government).

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[Sunstein] acknowledges that some “conspiracy theories” previously dismissed as insane and fringe have turned out to be entirely true (his examples: the CIA really did secretly administer LSD in “mind control” experiments; the DOD really did plot the commission of terrorist acts inside the U.S. with the intent to blame Castro; the Nixon White House really did bug the DNC headquarters). Given that history, how could it possibly be justified for the U.S. Government to institute covert programs designed to undermine anti-government “conspiracy theories,” discredit government critics, and increase faith and trust in government pronouncements? Because, says Sunstein, such powers are warranted only when wielded by truly well-intentioned government officials who want to spread The Truth and Do Good — i.e., when used by people like Cass Sunstein and Barack Obama.

  Glenn Greenwald at Salon

Yes, good men.

Return to January 2010:

Consider the recent revelation that the Obama administration has been making very large, undisclosed payments to MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber to provide consultation on the President’s health care plan. With this lucrative arrangement in place, Gruber spent the entire year offering public justifications for Obama’s health care plan, typically without disclosing these payments, and far worse, was repeatedly held out by the White House — falsely — as an “independent” or “objective” authority.

So much for Cass Sunstein. How about the others?

Morell was acting director of the CIA until March, when John Brennan was sworn in as director.

  Yahoo

Wow. Head of the CIA. There’s a great recommendation for a watchdog for civil liberties and privacy rights.

Morell has worked at the CIA since 1980, holding a variety of senior positions, according to the CIA. In fact, he was serving as President George W. Bush's intelligence briefer on the day of the Sept. 11, 2011, attacks.

Priceless.

[Peter] Swire served as the Clinton Administration’s Chief Counselor for Privacy, in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, as the only person to date to have government-wide responsibility for privacy issues. Among his other activities when at OMB, Swire was the White House coordinator for the HIPAA Medical Privacy Rule and chaired a White House Working Group on how to update wiretap laws for the Internet age.

  Future of Privacy Forum

Right. They’ve been updated beautifully to be stacked totally in favor of the government, in secret.

Mr. Swire is also Chair of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Do Not Track Process, Tracking Protection Working Group. Doing very nicely there, as well.  We are all being tracked by the biggest beast in the kingdom.

We heard most about Richard Clarke when he was the only government official to apologize for the government letting down the American people on 9/11.  He shall be remembered as the guy who tried but failed. Is he there for aesthetics or perhaps to come forward shamefacedly again in the future to apologize for not protecting us?

These guys should be about as useful as cartoonist Matt Bors envisions a privacy advocate Obama is promising to put in the FISC arena.