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yeah If I got a problem with surveillance, I can vote it out. I can't vote out a terrorist attack. I can't vote out a CEO

demonstrate to me that they're using this surveillance to harass civilians or using it for some other demonstrably oppressive way then I might be on board.

Till then, you're just mad that they merely have the info, which is hypocritical because the corporations collected the data in the first place, but people only got mad when gov't had it = hypocrisy.

turn off your cell phone and your computer and go live in the mountains if you want to prove you're not a hypocrite.

Gov't is not force, yes you do have a choice, you can leave the country, you can contact your congressperson.

Gov't is you

And yes, I too have anger fatigue.

That was a nice dodge he did when confronted with the argument that the gov't hasn't abused the information. He just pivoted it away.

I am sick and tired of the double standard between public and private sectors

And yes, it does creep me out that I'm agreeing with Stossel.

You reflect a lot of peoples opinions with this. Those who are terrified of terrorist attacks and let themselves get whipped up into a panic state anytime they push the propaganda button.

Oh those aren't happy natives those are blood thirsty psychos redskins we have to destroy to feel safe.

Those aren't nice Chinese laundrymen they're trying to kill us, we need to launch a chemical attack against mainland China (true story).

Those aren't black slaves we're keeping under our boots, they want to rape your daughters we can't give them freedom!

Those aren't peaceful villagers they're Red Communist bastards that are coming for us like a HOARD!

And so on and so on and so on. This country is terrified of everything, and usually the boogie man it makes up is the very people or country that we have under our boot. If we take our boot away for even a second they'll destroy us and everything we hold dear. There were people arming themselves and wearing Camo during the FIRST Gulf War because they were terrified of Saddam Hussein showing up on our doorsteps.

This culture of fear is what they use to justify everything, it's all about Security. Guess what, it doesn't have anything to do with security, because they know very well what they can do to make us more secure, even more than our magical country already is. They're not doing it, they have never done it...they're not protecting us, they only protect themselves FROM US.

This isn't an attack or anything you bring up a very good point which tons of people do during these debates. I'm getting really tired of the most protected society in the world not responding to those who actually pose a threat to not just our survival, but humanities as a whole.

Can't say that Stossel got school here. He was simply lobbing softballs for Napolitano to make his strong points.

News media has no free-will to program anything-all are mouthpieces for a failing machine. Government abuse = warehousing my emails and phone calls, installing cameras driven by facial recognition software, requiring a number generated at birth for me in order to facilitate livelihood then stealing a percentage to continually improve their global scam..etc, etc, etc.

Anarchy, then a sober epoch of repair and healing from the global mind-fuck humanity is now forced to engage in would be my choice for change....

Big difference between corporations having info and gov't having info. The corporation is simply trying to sell you something. The gov't will use the info to make you their minion. That's why the IRS is the enforcement arm of the so-called Affordable Care Act.

I find some major flaws with your straw man argument.

How's that "vote them out" thing working out for you? Can I vote out Obama now for droning sovereign nations without a declaration of war? Or droning American citizens without due process? Nope. Have to wait four years. And when elections finally come around, how many candidates do I have to choose between? Two. Exactly two with a couple of third party guys that have the election laws stacked against them. Wow. What a democratic utopia.

Now, how many private companies are there? Approx. 30 million according to U.S. consensus. And I can always voluntarily not purchase that company's goods or not use their services, no matter who the CEO is.

Ahh the "libertarian" shows his true colors.

For someone accusing me of a strawman, you seem to make some pretty good strawmen yourself.

Never claimed to live in a democratic utopia. Actually working pretty good as 200 years of history is showing. Sure we have problems, no one ever claimed we didn't. Far better than your utopia of a corporate totalitarian meritocracy where morality is apparently found in profit motive. Sorry, but the jury is has been out on the whole democracy vs plutocracy for some time. Sorry that you didn't get the memo.

You really have a problem with Obama personally? Then join the birther nutters and work towards convincing your congress people to impeach him. There are multitude of ways to effect change. The problem...and the beauty of that is that it requires somewhat of a consensus. not outliers filled with paranoia and hate.

hows making stupid one-note charlie submissions to VS working out for you as an agent of change eh?

Don't like your options? then you have yet ANOTHER option, there are plenty of other countries to choose from, pick one of them.

Lead, follow, or get the fuck out of the way. I got no time for armchair quarterbacks who would probably wet themselves if they actually had to make any tough decisions.

Two words: David Miranda.
Not American enough? Two more: Laura Poitras.

Not to mention, their supposedly smart/effective/necessary dragnet did not prevent them having innocent civilians that they kidnapped straight from allied nations from being tortured, raped, or killed. These people had nothing to do with terrorism, but they were profiled and pronounced "guilty by statistics".

You apparently have a problem with reading comprehension.

re-read my challenge and try again.

Here's a hint, I already pointed out how Stossel confronted Napolitano with this and Napolitano dodged.

I'm sorry but you just don't really have a case. If Americans truly had a problem with being surveilled. They wouldn't have let corporations do it, much less the gov't. If you've got a cell phone or use the internet and you're mad about this, then you're a hypocrite, pure and simple.

Privacy as you apparently think of it, is an outdated concept. People by and large obviously do not have a problem with this. = implied consent.

Snowden is just a convenient excuse to rage and for internet blowhards to pretend to be righteous.

Daily modern life as we know it is consent to surveillance in some form or another. to feign outrage about it now is just absurdly disingenuous

"Democratic utopia" aside, you really think 237 years of US history is making things... better? I'd love to hear you elaborate, because it sounds more and more like we're going the way of fascism.

And no small "l" libertarian believes in corporatism. That's right, here's a fun fact for you: corporations are created by government. Given special limited liability the rest of us are not. Given special government subsidies and welfare and even, at times, given eminent domain privileges.

And I love your "go to" disgusting statist answers of "don't like it then get out of my country" and "you must be a birther." Next you'll call me a racist or tell me to move to Somalia. Waiting for that one.

But the truth is you never addressed my real question here, but I'm guessing that was your point. Distraction and obfuscation tends to be the only weapon in the statist's arsenal. Your move, genius.

@VoodooV
your argument is flawed on sooo many levels.

1.you imply that our government is still "for the people by the people".while i admire the idealism i just dont see it manifested in reality.

2.you state you can vote out surveillance.
this "may" be possible but only due to the diligence of people like manning and snowden who brought these facts to light,and look at how doggedly our government is going after them?

would it be a stretch to assume that maybe,just maybe,the pursuit of manning and snowden had little to do with legality and EVERYTHING to do with sending a message to other potential conscientious government employees and respectable journalists that you dont fuck with the US government.

3.you state that anybody who has an issue with government spying on its own citizens but not with corporations who participate in similar activities is a hypocrite.

no they are not.
a corporation wont show up at your front door in full riot gear and drag you by the feet to club gitmo.

they just use your information to manipulate and control the way you feel and think about certain subjects in order to better control your responses.

and i find both reprehensible on a moral level but...again.the corporation does not have power over my freedom.the government does.

corporate america has purchased our government.
so while pretty and flowery rhetoric may sound delightful,when we actual LOOK how our government enacts policy it is almost ALWAYS,without exception,against what the public actually wants but everything corporate america wants.

the mechanisms that used to combat this are long gone,crushed into non-existence by the powerful elite who own this country.

my country has turned into a flock of infantile weeping pansies.
but it was not by accident but rather design.
they fear for their job.
they fear for their home.
they fear brown people in foreign countries.
hell..half the time they fear their own neighbor.
easy picking for those who wish to exploit that fear.

as someone on this thread stated "it has become a culture of fear".

we..the american people..have become the enemy.