The House rejected an amendment today to defund the NSA program that collects information on Amercan's phone records following a fierce debate on privacy rights and terrorist threats. Among the people who argued to continue the program was Congressman Michele Bachmann, one of the few politicians that stands on the side of the Constitution over big government. Not surprisingly, Glenn was very surprised by her stance and reacted to her stunning testimony on radio this morning.
Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan offered an amendment "as an addition to a $598.3 billion defense spending bill for 2014, would have canceled the statutory authority for the NSA program, ending the agency’s ability to collect phone records and metadata under the USA Patriot Act unless it identified an individual under investigation," according to TheBlaze.
During the debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann said:
We need to deal in facts, and the facts are real, and the facts are these: The only people who have benefitted from the revelation of classified information by someone who worked for this government, who intentionally and unauthorized declassified some of the most sensitive national security information that we have, the only result is that those who are engaged in Islamic jihad will have been benefitted. And those that we seek to protect have not. Consider this: There is more information contained in the phone book that sits at home on your kitchen counter about each one of us than the information that is in the national security database that we're talking about today.Your name, your address is in the phone book. Your name, your address is not in this national security database. No other nation in the world has the advantage that the United States of America has on national security. No other nation! And we, by this amendment today, would agree to handcuff ourselves and our allies by restricting ourselves? Let it not be. Let us not deal in false narratives. Let us deal in facts that will keep the American people safe. When you look at an envelope, when a letter is put in the mail, is there a privacy right as to what's been written on that envelope? No, there isn't. Where there is a privacy right is what's contained inside that envelope. That's a Fourth Amendment right. Is there a Fourth Amendment right to the record that you called someone on a certain day? No, there isn't. That's a record. But there is a Fourth Amendment right to what's in that phone call.
Watch the full video at the bottom of the page
While listening to the audio, Glenn wrote "Michele Bachmann is not dead to me. But she is in very ill health." on the radio studio's chalkboard.
"She's not dead to me, but she is in ill health. She has to ‑ this has got to stop. I have no problem - I would say on this whole speech if she would take away the false narrative. And that no one is storing (information)," Glenn said.
"She could say: Look, they are storing, and I'm concerned about it. Nobody's reading your stuff, but they are storing. They are keeping record. They are keeping record on every single American," Glenn said.
"What do you think the Utah data storage center is for, Michele? Please don't treat me like a moron. What are they storing in there? They are not storing eggs and meat and they don't have, like, a little veggie tray in there. They are storing our records, our information. They have more information, and this universal healthcare is going to make the NSA look like a rookie. They are storing information on every single American. All of our ‑‑ all of our movements, all of our e‑mails, and all of our purchases, all being stored. We know that."
"Now, if you want to make this point, here's how you make the point: Look, I'm on the intelligence community ‑‑ I'm on the committee. I get secret reports and I'm telling you right now this country is about to come undone. This country, the American people don't know what a precarious situation we're in. And while I am gravely concerned about the NSA, I happen to think that we are in bigger trouble because it is a more clear and present danger of the people who are coming in here and want to kill us than it is on the NSA. I'll deal with that one later. We can have a completely sane and rational conversation," Glenn said.
"But please don't deal in your false narrative about false narratives," Glenn said, "And if you'd like to get Michele Bachmann, I owe it to her to say that to her face. "
Glenn said that Michele Bachmann is right on many, many issues and stands for the things she believes in, but he disagreed with her strongly on this issue.
Watch her comments below:
