"Enemy of the State" with Will Smith and Gene Hackman is one of the earliest movies which is sharply critical specifically of the NSA and the egregious abuses of any surveillance authority by the modern state.
The movie isn't so old at not quite twenty years but a large part of most excessive abuses of these types of systems (e.g. NSA, CIA, FBI, etc) took place under Bush and Obama with little difference in terms of respect for the Constitution in either one of them. There's no evidence either of them has ever even heard of the Fourth Amendment but that's true for much of America which shouldn't be too surprising when they're known more for eating than for thinking.
The Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It is part of the Bill of Rights and was adopted in response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, a type of general search warrant issued by the British government and a major source of tension in pre-Revolutionary America. The Fourth Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison, along with the other amendments in the Bill of Rights, in response to Anti-Federalist objections to the new Constitution. Congress submitted the amendment to the states on September 28, 1789. By December 15, 1791, the necessary three-quarters of the states had ratified it. On March 1, 1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the amendment.
The movie isn't so old at not quite twenty years but a large part of most excessive abuses of these types of systems (e.g. NSA, CIA, FBI, etc) took place under Bush and Obama with little difference in terms of respect for the Constitution in either one of them. There's no evidence either of them has ever even heard of the Fourth Amendment but that's true for much of America which shouldn't be too surprising when they're known more for eating than for thinking.
The Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It is part of the Bill of Rights and was adopted in response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, a type of general search warrant issued by the British government and a major source of tension in pre-Revolutionary America. The Fourth Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison, along with the other amendments in the Bill of Rights, in response to Anti-Federalist objections to the new Constitution. Congress submitted the amendment to the states on September 28, 1789. By December 15, 1791, the necessary three-quarters of the states had ratified it. On March 1, 1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the amendment.
- WIKI: Fourth Amendment
Implemented by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson and destroyed by Barack Obama with the help of the Republican Party.
The editing of the movie is tight and it's constantly suspenseful as Will Smith's life and that of his family goes quickly down the toilet due to aggressive pursuit by a crooked Congressman. It was classic for Tony Scott's way in which depth isn't too important but explosions are outstanding. With production by Jerry Bruckheimer, you know pyro is going to be a huge part of the show and the near-ending has one of the most excellent explosions you could ever ask for a five- or six-storey warehouse. They go all out for the final ending to make it quite possibly the most ridiculous parody of a Godfather finale you may ever see since everyone dies in the course of about a minute accompanied by more gunfire than the D-Day Invasion.
Scott's last spectacle was a swan dive off the Golden Gate Bridge so, to the last, he was dramatic.
The fundamental premise is you can't trust the government and people know that implicitly except during elections when they suddenly convince themselves Washington is full of munchkins, full of joy and pure of heart. That thinking doesn't explain why Washington is launching classified space programs which surveil the Earth for one-year intervals with the alternate shuttle (i.e. X-37) space vehicle. That doesn't explain how many spy satellites have been launched with no explanation of purpose. It doesn't explain how Washington got so far distant from Americans that it might as well be on another planet and we would all be far better off if it were.
The movie portrays the directors of the security agencies as more competent than they really are. FBI Director James Comey said to Congress today, "We are not weasels," but obviously they are when they're not criminal enough to make it to the CIA or NSA. He also said, 'stop and frisk is good when used right' but he's the same guy who doesn't believe in stopping and frisking Clinton for much of anything whereas he believes in stopping and frisking black people for everything.
And the NSA people are even worse but Edward Snowden pulled their pants down around their ankles with relative ease. In terms of confidence anything they do really works, there's not likely to be much when they have failed to predict every single campaign of violence related to terrorism anywhere in the world.
James Comey makes it clear we're 'enemies of the state' when the FBI has to right to stop and frisk us any time they feel like it. Welcome to new America. It's not the one you remember.
The editing of the movie is tight and it's constantly suspenseful as Will Smith's life and that of his family goes quickly down the toilet due to aggressive pursuit by a crooked Congressman. It was classic for Tony Scott's way in which depth isn't too important but explosions are outstanding. With production by Jerry Bruckheimer, you know pyro is going to be a huge part of the show and the near-ending has one of the most excellent explosions you could ever ask for a five- or six-storey warehouse. They go all out for the final ending to make it quite possibly the most ridiculous parody of a Godfather finale you may ever see since everyone dies in the course of about a minute accompanied by more gunfire than the D-Day Invasion.
Scott's last spectacle was a swan dive off the Golden Gate Bridge so, to the last, he was dramatic.
The fundamental premise is you can't trust the government and people know that implicitly except during elections when they suddenly convince themselves Washington is full of munchkins, full of joy and pure of heart. That thinking doesn't explain why Washington is launching classified space programs which surveil the Earth for one-year intervals with the alternate shuttle (i.e. X-37) space vehicle. That doesn't explain how many spy satellites have been launched with no explanation of purpose. It doesn't explain how Washington got so far distant from Americans that it might as well be on another planet and we would all be far better off if it were.
The movie portrays the directors of the security agencies as more competent than they really are. FBI Director James Comey said to Congress today, "We are not weasels," but obviously they are when they're not criminal enough to make it to the CIA or NSA. He also said, 'stop and frisk is good when used right' but he's the same guy who doesn't believe in stopping and frisking Clinton for much of anything whereas he believes in stopping and frisking black people for everything.
And the NSA people are even worse but Edward Snowden pulled their pants down around their ankles with relative ease. In terms of confidence anything they do really works, there's not likely to be much when they have failed to predict every single campaign of violence related to terrorism anywhere in the world.
James Comey makes it clear we're 'enemies of the state' when the FBI has to right to stop and frisk us any time they feel like it. Welcome to new America. It's not the one you remember.
4 comments:
Stop and Frisk never left us. When police are allowed to search your car and person based on you are looking nervous as the probable cause. And when the narcotics dog arrives on the scene because of who is pulled over profiling is still alive and well.
The cops are out of control with the bully mentality.
Even if they are in fear of thier life when they pull the trigger why is it always 5plus shots. And why is it always a kill shot. And why mot tasers. Nashville has several ongoing investigations but the are excessive force not murders
That reaction to cop brutality is stronger than I expected since many try to downplay it so I'm quite glad to see the awareness. We know with enough awareness the people will stop it but they seem so determined to ignore it or make excuses for it.
It isnot just the brutality. It is the outright abuse of power
There's no disagreement from here either way. It's staggering so few react to it.
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