The Rockdale News Rockdale News Digital Edition, June 10, 2015 | Page 11

Perspectives Wednesday, June 10, 2015 Our Thoughts T. Pat Cavanaugh is the publisher of The Rockdale News and The Covington News. He can be reached at [email protected] Empty Symbolism: Why the Freedom Act Sucks “Here’s what would fix M Ted Rall Columnist arketed as pro-privacy reform of the rancid Patriot Act, the USA Freedom Act is about to become law. Though nothing could be further from the truth, many Americans will believe that the NSA is being reined in, and move on another issue. The Freedom Act has been characterized as another vindication of Edward Snowden — and, considering the fact that we wouldn’t be discussing the balance between individual privacy rights and national security if he hadn’t made the NSA’s spying against us public, it is. We’re also being told that the Freedom Act will protect us from the NSA. It won’t. “This is more than symbolic,” said Georgia Tech professor Peter Swire, who worked on an Obama administration task force that studied READ MORE the problem: the NSA should be shut down. Its top officials, and those of its affiliated private contracting firms, should be imprisoned. So should every public official who approved their disgusting espionage against us.”