Maybe I suffer confirmation bias because I'm following the story, but it seems to be picking up steam to me. A few days ago, the US House of Representatives almost passed a law which would have curtailed the NSA's activities, and now we have the XKeyScore revelations which are still playing out.
From the release of the Pentagon papers, to Nixon's resignation, took three years. The incident which ultimately led to the president's resignation was a side issue, buried in the back pages of the A section, for most of that time.
I'm not sure if the US government is still capable of policing itself in that way. But however it plays out this isn't going to be over in a few weeks.
Failing to pass the law but coming close to passing the law means literally nothing. That is not a victory.
And have you talked to people outside of the Internet about it? Plenty of people didn't ever care, and are now upset with Snowden for even having leaked what he did.
This is not going to "pick up steam" any more than it already has, short of non-spying related leaks (Obama killed a guy with his laser vision, for example).
I think you're being unnecessarily negative. I like the metaphor Wyden had: "The side of transparency and openness is starting to put some points on the board." All-or-nothing thinking is not helpful.
But you have a point. Snowden didn't come to the public with revelations about how these programs were persecuting anybody in particular. So the objections one might raise are more theoretical, about "turnkey tyranny", or that panoptic surveillance is itself an offense against the people. I have a feeling that if a more specific case came to light, it would change everything.
It's not all-or-nothing thinking re: failing to pass the law. A vote count's closeness has very very little to do with how close the outcome actually was. It literally means nothing that the vote count was so close.
I also don't think one case will do it. It'd have to be a trend (people literally snatched up in the night), a policy shift (all copyright abuse starts being enforced because now they have that data), or some kind of tragic action leading to the deaths (yes deaths) of people on US soil.
You may be right. But in my opinion it's not the severity of the action that's brought to light, it's who gets hurt. The elites of the US are usually fine with extraconstitutional shenanigans and human rights violations when they only affect foreigners, or relatively powerless people within the US.
When it affects the domestic balance of power, then you start to see elite consensus building against it, and the wheels of reform start turning. This is how a hotel break-in is more serious than a secret war in Indochina.
It's possible that US elites will perceive surveillance as a threat to themselves. If they don't, you're probably right and then everyone just gets used to it, and any reckoning is kicked down the road for a few more decades.
No one's actually gotten hurt because of the NSA's surveillance, so that's the problem. All of these potential consequences are theoretical. We're trying to string the NSA up on what amounts to pre-crime.
The Pentagon Papers didn't impact Nixon directly (Nixon was even pleased at first since it could only affect the reputation of his predecessors). But you have a good point, certainly it seems there's finally an awakening in Congress. Even most of those who voted against defunding NSA then sent a letter to the White House saying that some form of changes would still be required.
Maybe I suffer confirmation bias because I'm following the story, but it seems to be picking up steam to me. A few days ago, the US House of Representatives almost passed a law which would have curtailed the NSA's activities, and now we have the XKeyScore revelations which are still playing out.
From the release of the Pentagon papers, to Nixon's resignation, took three years. The incident which ultimately led to the president's resignation was a side issue, buried in the back pages of the A section, for most of that time.
I'm not sure if the US government is still capable of policing itself in that way. But however it plays out this isn't going to be over in a few weeks.