Woo-Hoo

The Obama administration has announced a series of modest changes in the use of private data collected for intelligence purposes.

[...]

But the bulk collection would continue as robustly as ever, the announcement made clear.

[...]

The new policy also imposed more supervision over how intelligence agencies use the communications of Americans they acquire without individual warrants, making clear, for example, that such data may only be used to prosecute someone for "serious crimes" such as a murder or kidnapping, or national security crimes.

  CBS

Ah, yes. “National security crimes.” And that would be whatever they say it is. And it could change at any moment. And then change back again. Depending upon who you are.

[T]he changes stopped well short of the recommendations of a presidential task force, including one that data collected by the NSA without warrants should never be used against an American in court, and another that such data should only be searched using the name of an American with a specific court order naming that person. Robert Litt, general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said in a conference call with reporters that those ideas were deemed too restrictive.

The result is that the private communications of Americans collected without warrants are still circulating around the government.

And will be until the end of time.

Moreover, Mr. Obama's most significant proposal in response to the Snowden leaks - to end the NSA's bulk collection of domestic calling records - has not been enacted. The president wants Congress to pass a law, and Congress has balked.

See? He’d just do all the right things if only Congress weren’t in his way. What a wonderful, but helpless guy.

The NSA is still collecting the records, even though Mr. Obama could stop the practice on his own.

Yeah. You’d think he was the most powerful man in the world, wouldn’t you? He doesn’t seem to need Congress when he’s blasting away at the world, killing hundreds of thousands of people on his own say-so.

But, hey. They can now only place a gag order for three years on people who get hit with an FBI national security letter – not forever, like it has been. I wonder when this goes into effect if it’s retroactive to people who are under such orders now.

Great strides, folks. Great strides. You’re government is only trying to protect you. Go back to work.