Changes

*'''9 August.''' Internal NSA document reveals an agency "loophole" that allows a secret backdoor for the agency to search its databases for US citizens' emails and phone calls without a warrant.

*'''9 August.''' Internal NSA document reveals an agency "loophole" that allows a secret backdoor for the agency to search its databases for US citizens' emails and phone calls without a warrant.

*'''12 August.''' ''The Atlantic'' surprisingly published a piece  entitled ''The Surveillance Speech: A Low Point in Barack Obama's Presidency''.<ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/278565/</ref> Despite being openly critical of Obama, no mainstream news sources accuse ''The Atlantic'' of [[racism]]. The piece is of interest to historians of the era, and has this paragraph for example: {{Quotebox|"In fact, the whole concept of a secret court is misguided, and it is astonishing that Obama, or anyone aside from partisan Republicans, would trust a court composed entirely of one man's appointees. What if I told you, Democrats, that henceforth, abortion jurisprudence, voting-rights jurisprudence, labor law, or really any area of U.S. [[Constitutional law]] would be decided in secret and always by judges who John Roberts chose? How much confidence would you have in the outcome of decisions made in that court? Yet that is how the [[FISA court]] works. And we're supposed to trust that the secret court's decisions are getting everything correct!"}} Within two years, justice, fairness, civil liberties and government excesses were among the least of [[Progressive]] [[liberal]]s concerns.

*'''12 August.''' ''The Atlantic'' surprisingly published a piece  entitled ''The Surveillance Speech: A Low Point in Barack Obama's Presidency''.<ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/278565/</ref> Despite being openly critical of Obama, no mainstream news sources accuse ''The Atlantic'' of [[racism]]. The piece is of interest to historians of the era, and has this paragraph for example: {{Quotebox|"In fact, the whole concept of a secret court is misguided, and it is astonishing that Obama, or anyone aside from partisan Republicans, would trust a court composed entirely of one man's appointees. What if I told you, Democrats, that henceforth, abortion jurisprudence, voting-rights jurisprudence, labor law, or really any area of U.S. [[Constitutional law]] would be decided in secret and always by judges who John Roberts chose? How much [[confidence]] would you have in the outcome of decisions made in that court? Yet that is how the [[FISA court]] works. And we're supposed to trust that the secret court's decisions are getting everything correct!"}} Within two years, justice, fairness, civil liberties and government excesses were among the least of [[Progressive]] [[liberal]]s concerns.

*'''13 August.''' '''Ghouta chemical attack.''' [[Islamic State|Islamic State of Iraq and Syria]] uses chemical weapons on civilians in a Damascus suburb. Obama blames Assad regime.<ref>https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/06/nyt-retreats-on-2013-syriasarin-claims/</ref>

*'''13 August.''' '''Ghouta chemical attack.''' [[Islamic State|Islamic State of Iraq and Syria]] uses chemical weapons on civilians in a Damascus suburb. Obama blames Assad regime.<ref>https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/06/nyt-retreats-on-2013-syriasarin-claims/</ref>