A key section of the so-called Patriot Act has expired that was previously used as the basis for NSA spying.  I read the many headlines saying that you can now email, text, etc. without fear of the U.S. government spying on you.

But has the NSA really stopped spying?

Virtually everything the NSA does is unconstitutional, so in regards to the law, it doesn’t really mean much.  Is anyone really so naive as to think that the NSA workers just went to work on Monday morning and found something else to do with their time?  They shut down the computers and databases used to collect information and went on to something else?

The whole reason that Edward Snowden is living in Russia is because he blew the whistle on the NSA.  He proved to the world that the NSA was spying on almost anyone it wanted to, including Americans.  He proved that the NSA was not in the business of just catching terrorists, but in the business of mass data collection.

The NSA spies.  That is its purpose.  It is for more power and control for the state against the general population.

The law means nothing to the people at the NSA.  If it did, it never would have started spying in the first place.  It was already illegal, with or without the Patriot Act.  It will just use other provisions of the Patriot Act to justify its actions, if it even needs to justify its actions.  If the whole Patriot Act is repealed, it will find some other justification if needed.

The only way to stop NSA spying is by defunding the agency.  When the NSA workers stop getting their direct deposits, then they will not want to show up for work any longer.  They might have to find an honest job.  The funding has to stop for any guarantee that the spying will stop.

It is good that this latest story happened because it brought more awareness to the American people.  But it is highly doubtful that it has stopped, or even slowed down, the NSA spying.