[liberationtech] NSA's crypto city

[Mike Perry]

James S. Tyre:
> Oddly, a former NSA operative I know was, while still with NSA, the Mayor of the nearby
> town in which he lived.  Perhaps his colleagues stuffed the ballot box for him.  '-)

You kid, but this is not how this sort of manipulation would work. Even
with E-Voting being the sham that it is, as Kennedy (I think?) said,
"You can steal a close race, but you can't steal a landslide."

In reality, NSA operatives are more likely to use their power for
destroying/manipulating political opponents by obtaining information
that could be used against them. For well-documented historical
examples, just look at Nixon, Hoover, etc.

For a more recent example: I suspect it was more than mere coincidence
that allowed the Petraeus affair to be discovered.. Even if you are
disinclined to believe in conspiracy in that particular case, it serves
as a textbook example for how one could take down a high-ranking
political official who suddenly becomes "inconvenient", using
only inappropriately obtained information...



-- 
Mike Perry