The United States has devolved into a “soft-core totalitarian dictatorship” and other nations should begin to disassociate from it, according to an American activist and radio host in California.
Rodney Martin, the chairman of the All Nationalist Association and former US congressional staffer, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Wednesday, commenting on the approval of a bill that will allow resumption of the government’s sweeping surveillance program.
US President Barack Obama is expected to sign the USA Freedom Act after it was approved by the Senate 67-32 on Tuesday.
“The Senate approving the NSA surveillance, it’s not a surprise, even with Rand Paul’s filibuster, the minor amendments,” Martin said.
“The fact is that we are a surveillance society. There are no more civil liberties; there is no more right to privacy, regardless to the Constitution,” he added.
Although the Freedom Act would curtail some of the National Security Agency’s now-expired powers it gained under the Patriot Act in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, it would authorize the agency to still track those potentially deemed as threats.
Republican presidential candidate and Senator Rand Paul voted against the measure. The vote came two days after the Patriot Act expired because the Senate could not "overcome parliamentary maneuvers by Sen. Rand Paul."
“Rand Paul’s filibuster was more for presidential theatrics than any real substance. The fact is this bill was going to pass, and the amendments and the so-called changes are cosmetic,” Martin said.
“The fact of the matter is that the Freedom Act is really no different than the Patriot Act. All the government has to do now is say that someone is dangerous or they’re suspected of being a terrorist, and they can collect the data,” he noted.
“The fact is that the United States has devolved into a soft-core totalitarian dictatorship. There’s no right to privacy. And the American people, if they carry around a smart phone should seriously consider getting rid of it,” the journalist said.
“They should very seriously consider what they write in their emails and be very cautious of that, because even dry humor can be construed by the government as ‘terrorism,’” he stated.
“It’s a sad state of affairs, and hopefully other nations, particularly Europe and around the world would begin disassociating and disaffiliating with the United States,” Martin concluded.
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