Matt Taibbi on Government Surveillance: Quiet Skies and the Erosion of Civil Liberties

The Quiet Skies Program

• 🎯 Tulsi Gabbard was placed in the TSA's Quiet Skies surveillance program, involving intrusive searches and federal air marshals.
• ⚠️ The TSA's response to inquiries was evasive, suggesting that matching a risk-based rule doesn't mean derogatory information, implying innocent people are also targeted.
• 💸 The program, costing $200 million annually and tracking up to 50 people daily, never led to an arrest or thwarted a terrorist act.
• 📉 Despite its inutility and civil liberties concerns, Quiet Skies was refunded year after year, symbolizing a decline in federal enforcement post-9/11.

Erosion of Truth and Trust

• 🤥 James Clapper's false testimony to Congress about NSA data collection exemplifies a pattern where lying about surveillance programs goes unpunished.
• 📺 Conversely, those who try to reveal truths about surveillance face severe consequences, while those who lie can become paid analysts.
• 🇺🇸 Americans have become numb to surveillance, accepting the constant recording and analysis of their online activities as inevitable.

Betrayal of Constitutional Principles

• 🕵️‍♂️ The TSA's Quiet Skies program operated in secrecy, allowing for liberties with the Constitution and avoiding judicial justification for data gathering.
• ⚖️ This practice leads to the kind of