November 7, 2013

White House Hoping Cosmetic Change Will Satisfy NSA Critics


Here’s the latest on the NSA surveillance front:

National Security Council officials are scheduled to meet soon to discuss the issue of separating the leadership of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command….The administration is also discussing whether the NSA should be led by a civilian.

Officials said privately that the changes could help tamp the current furor over the NSA’s sweeping powers by narrowing the authorities assigned to its director. Because of heightened political sensitivities, what might ordinarily be an internal Defense Department policy matter is now being coordinated by the White House, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Um….no. Seriously. Just no. This won’t tamp down anything. It might be a good idea, but it’s not going to fool anyone into believing that the actual substance of NSA policy is changing. I’m afraid that will require changing the actual substance of NSA policy.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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