A New Year's resolution for Obama: Dismantle the NSA

Two new reports reveal that the spy agency is even more lawless than we thought

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(Image credit: (Getty Images/Allison Shelley))

Here's a perfect New Year's resolution: Let's abolish the National Security Agency and prosecute its agents for spying on us. It's perfect because it's the right thing to do — and because it's a promise that's probably impossible to keep.

On Christmas Eve, the NSA, complying with a Freedom of Information Act request from the American Civil Liberties Union, released documents showing that intelligence agents used the incredible resources of the NSA to spy on their wives, husbands, and girlfriends.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.