Re: As Ive said before
"For all the talk about the NSA database, I've never heard of any innocent person being the slightest bit harmed by any use of it. Its supposed dangers are entirely hypothetical, whereas the dangers posed by criminal conspiracies which might be tracked through such a database are demonstrably real."
I've been harmed by the NSA database. So fuck you.
And there are lots of "criminals" who haven't harmed anyone. Providing a perfectly harmless (when used appropriately, in moderation) substance such as marijuana, or engaging in sodomy, being gay, being a hardworking illegal immigrant...the list of people who have broken laws but ultimate been a benefit to society is huge.
Being a criminal emphatically does not mean you harm anyone. Some criminals do. Most criminals don't.
The law has long ago become not about protecting the citizens, but protecting those in power from the loss of their power, and/or imposing the paranoid morality of the crazy few upon all. Full stop.
