I’ve written about this here,
here,
here, and here. The President of the United States should be impeached and convicted and removed from office for authorizing illegal domestic surveillance of American citizens. This is especially true because he insists on continuing to abuse his power, but now with Congressionally granted impunity. To use one of Bush pere’s famous lines: “This aggression cannot stand.”
No one but the grossest simpleton believes that the administration has limited its illegal spying to one little NSA program. We know that the Pentagon has been spying on anti-war groups. We know the FBI is watching journalists that report on intelligence matters. I just assume that Joe Wilson, Pat Lang, and Larry Johnson are being surveilled (which means I have no expectation of email privacy and am not too confident about my phone).
We are being asked to give up our rights. For what?
Only the most inattentive jackass, someone with zero familiarity with our intelligence agencies, would believe for a nanosecond that close to a dozen employees of the National Security Agency would risk their careers, pensions, and freedom to leak information about a top secret program to the New York Times if the program was limited to spying on Al-Qaeda members phoning in to the United States.
The NSA is the most secretive of all our intelligence agencies. It’s nickname is the ‘No-Such Agency’. It’s employees almost never leak. It’s an ingrained part of their culture. It’s amazing that almost a dozen NSA employees were willing to collude and engage in a conspiracy to convince the New York Times of the criminality they were being asked to conduct. The mere fact that it happened at all should tell everyone all they need to know.
So, what is with bullshit like this?
Despite widespread criticism of President Bush’s warrantless surveillance program, even vociferous detractors in Congress stop short of calling for an end to the anti-terrorist eavesdropping.
At issue for many Republicans and Democrats isn’t the program itself, but how little the White House told Congress about it and how much it expands presidential power.
Message to the USA Today and all congressional Democrats: I am not a fucking terrorist!
You either hold hearings and find out exactly the extent of illegal domestic surveillance (of all types) that is going on, or get the fuck out of the way. A failure to investigate these matters fully and to treat them as the constitutional crises that they are is akin to telling me that I have no first of fourth amendments rights. Because as things stand now, I have zero confidence, much less any assurances, that my anti-war stance and connections haven’t placed me under the watch of one of Bush’s illegal programs.
Bill Frist is threatening to change the rules of the Senate Intelligence Committee to limit the minority party’s power to participate in oversight. This is an obvious desperation move that is necessitated by the obvious impeachable nature of the NSA program in question (setting aside other Pentagon programs, and programs unknown).
We know they have committed crimes against the Constitution. We cannot let them get away with it. If we let this aggression stand, then the principles our country is based upon will fall.
Millions of Americans would be willing to risk their lives to protect these rights if they were threatened from abroad. But, our rights are not just being threatened, they are being trampled and flushed, right here…on Capitol Hill.
Jeez Boo, why don’t you tell us how you really feel? 😉
DSP1 is as you said, just one of many other programs. I’m already up to DSP4 and I am sure there are many more which will be revealed in time.
If Bush and company don’t quit their evil ways, it’s going to be incumbent on some modern day phreakers to start overloading the system.
Pax
BooMan,
One simple way that everyone can positively assert their right to privacy in their electronic communications is to use PGP encryption when sending and receiving e-mail.
Those more technically inclined might also consider using Tor to anonymize web browsing.
also available in orange.
Since one of my Senators sits on the committee, I spent part of the morning encouraging Missourians to contact his office. And I know people are calling and e-mailing because they are reporting back.
It’s not going to change his mind though. Kit Bond is a party line guy all the way. And, as someone e-mailed me, after dutifully following my instructions:
but I guess we do what we can.
yes. do what you can. pretty soon, though, this is going to have to go to the streets. If the Dems let Frist roll over them I am going apeshit.
Sheesh- if they won’t listen to you they certainly haven’t paid any attention to me..
There is no more rule of law at least not one that appears to be working for us, the people.
I don’t think hate was even in my vocabulary until Bush interupted MY life.
What even adds more to this little fascist’s rap sheet is the fact that his minions have been classifying documents in the National Archives from day one of his adminstration. These guys are Stalinists: we have a gulag, we have secret police, we have students taping teachers, we will soon be down to zero amendments in the Bill of Rights. Well, we’ll have the Frist Amendment; the one that gives us the right to worship god as he sees fit.
Impeachable. Let’s all sing this to the tune of Natalie Cole’s Unforgetable…..IMPEACHABLE,…THAT’S WHAT YOU ARE….THIS ONE’S FOR YOU GEORGE….IMPEACHABLE, WHETHER NEAR OR FAR..
Impeach him out of office and then bring him up on criminal charges.
ah worshiping god as we see fit..well maybe not that either according to Missouri. The legislators there want to pass a bill making the christian religion the official state religion.
Not exactly. Here’s the link
First, let me say that I think this bill is ridiculous. But let’s at least know what it says. The bill doesn’t make the christian religion the state religion. It is about prayer in public school and religious displays on public property. It also isn’t a bill that would be passed into law — it is a “sense of the legislature” type resolution that would have no legal effect.
What it says:
Here is the status link and you will see that it has been introduced and passed by the rules committee. No hearings even scheduled. Up for a vote in the house next week.
So, stupid? Yes. But people introduce stupid things like this all the time — especially in Missouri. Will it pass? Who knows. According to news reports, a lot of religious leaders are furious about it and are voicing their concern.
hey maryb-thanks for that link and clarification. That’s not quite as bad but still stupid as you say.
You missed the snark. The Frist Amendment,not the First Amendment and worshipping as HE sees fit, not WE.
Leave us not (as I keep saying) forget the third branch:
Only @ the District Court level, but encouraging. OTOH, haven’t heard or ready anything lately about the FISA Judges meeting on the wiretap issue.
That sounds reassuring but aren’t there several ways to get around that requirement?
Yes: don’t ask, don’t tell. Which appears to be the administration’s MO. Unfortuantely none of what they gather can be introduced into evidence, which is what the Judge told them.
We don’t have any idea how much is being accepted but my guess is, probably a lot more than should be. It doesn’t even hace to be entered as evidence to be damaging.
If anyone is voicing a legal, dissenting opinion that might cause problems politically, then an unfavorable threat analysis profile can be generated by cherry picking information through one of the private contractors.
How insane is it to have normal financial assets frozen simply for paying off a credit card bill in a way that’s non-routine? And that is considered normal procedure now.
with this shit day in and day out. Things must be getting out of hand when a guy like David Gergen, no liberal he, says stuff like this:
Yet David Gregory apologizes for raising his voice. And while we’re at it, how about that Jon Stewart? With the biggest audience he’ll ever have in his whole fucking life, all he had to offer was some “fair and balanced” ‘Democrats are losers’ jokes. And the Democrats thought he did a great job.
What does it say that David Gergen sees the danger, and the Democratic Party is whistling past the graveyard?
I said it below: it’s gettign to be like don’t ask, don’t tell
Indicative of just how far the Bush DoJ is willing to go after journalists is this story from last month, FBI probes how Bee got documents:
This waste of time & resources seems desigend for one purpose: all out intimidation of the press.
You and I were talking about this in another diary not too long ago. Most of what I saw on the net that made that connection wasn’t from any court document but from accounts from several different sources that simply figured out the obvious. In one of them, I forget which case, the authorities disclosed the witness ID in court, in normal public procedures.
I think you made a mention of something else I posted being of questionably sensitive status. It was a job posting from one of the defense contractors I found on Monster or Headhunter or similar. That type of disclosure and a whole bunch of aggressive marketing campaigns are allowing the government entities to treat this information with blatant disrespect.
The best thing the gov could do is to sign up us good guessers to temp contracts so we would be under legal obligation not to talk about what we find. It would be similar to paying farmers not to grow corn. 😀
It’s the Imperial Presidency — clear & simple.
As far as hearings go, I’m afraid we can’t even expect much there. Always willing to be pleasantly suprised though. It’s as if everyone on the Hill has taken the don’t ask, don’t tell mantra as the metaphor for oversight.
What is truly scary isn’t the crimes against the Constitution (& I’m not downplaying them!); it’s that they have granted themselves the sole right to interpret & implement it. Even those on the Hill who see it clearly are acting impotent. Can we expect a Roberts court to hold Bush in check? Or for the admin to even accede to the judiciary in such an unlikely event?
The revolution WAS not televised
Hearings will be like an archaeological dig.
Quoting Auden out of context, from a 1940 poem, “Law Like Love,” these stanzas feel all too apt today:
Others say, Law is our Fate;
Others say, Law is our State;
Others say, others say
Law is no more
Law has gone away.
And always the loud angry crowd
Very angry and very loud
Law is We,
And always, the soft idiot softly Me.
Only today’s soft idiot is very loud & very clear & very insistent. The crowd needs to get angrier, and much, much louder.
Thanks for the action link!
It seems pretty clear that things are not going to get better. Not for decades, if ever. Technology is going to make in convenient to monitor everyone, I don’t see any resistance, we will be seduced by the corporations that sell cell phones, TV and computers. It will become convienient for our “Personal Safety” to be tracked at all times. After all if you and your loved one have nothing to hide from each other, why wouldn’t you want to know where your wife or husband are at all times. “Personal Safety” will be used as an excuse by the Security State to monitor your every movement.
The Democrats….I don’t understand the complaint of people on the this site about why the Democrats don’t do something. It’s over. They are no longer the Party that once existed prior to 911. They are in fact more conservative than the Republicans were prior to 911.
First, the gov has been spying on anti-war/peace groups (among many others) for decades, so that is nothing even slightly new. Every one that has ever been involved with movements knows this and takes it into consideration during planning.
Second, those people you mentioned were part of government so I’m sure they kinda know what’s what. No biggy.
Now my question is why do you Booman think you are being spied on and for what reason? It is not like you are calling for revolution or anything. Your opinions seem quite moderate and well within the bounds of conventional thought to me. So what would the gov want to know if they can just come here and read your opinions?
it’s simple. Go back and read the Kristof piece that started the Plame affair. Wilson was the unnamed source, Pat Lang was the named source.
There have been coordinated leaks coming out of the intelligence agencies since the spring of 2002, and they were from people that were freaking out over the neo-cons. The actively worked to push the plame story, the torture story, the rendition story, etc.
See, some people have morals.
As a result, people that have contacts and receive these types of leaks are now being investigated. And some of them publish write on this site, and correspond with me by mail and phone.
In other words, their is a civil war on, and I just have to assume that I am linked up in it. At least as far as the loose datamining wiretapping strategies of these unwarranted taps go.
Well Booman, I’m glad to hear some people have morals in government. But those same people worked in agencies that are known for some let’s say nasty deceptions. Deceptions that got a lot of other moral people killed. So color me skeptical about their motivations for what ever they are doing now.
Also, were is this civil war?
I linked to a piece on the civil war in the diary.
I am fully aware of the track record of our intelligence services, as well as their politics. I think the fact that Clinton chose Woolsey to be his DCI says it all about what a useless tool Bubba was.
But show me one scandal out of the CIA in the entire Clinton era. How about Carter? Leadership is the name of the game. Agencies follow orders. And if they find your orders immoral enough they do strange things, like leak about it in order to get you impeached.
That is one of the most important things I’ve learned in this journey of discovery. That’s also how I formed my opinions as to who were the more loyal to their country regardless of my opinion of that field of work. The professionals aren’t there anymore and it shows. The sad part is that our efforts aren’t being heard by the elected officials.
You know, this wiretap problem is a lot more complicated than phone calls. I don’t mention it here because it’s the bread and butter but those ad boxes on every website have been way more dangerous than the wiretaps. Those are the info suppliers for these covert programs being used against us innocent people. We need to get all of it under control.
In the meantime, I’ll just keep on watching the watchers and drive down through open source link analysis of their self created profiles.
…by the way, why in the hell would a rinky-dink transit authority need it’s own police force or ‘honorary’ dhs officers who don’t actually hold a position. How do we know if the badges we see are genuine or if the imposter is part of some……..I dunno, Swiss mafia, or something? I didn’t even know there was such a thing as the Swiss mafia….too much insignificant info out there that average folks question every day now.
We really need to pressure the corporate/govt interests to clamp down on the current admin before they all start losing revenue to paranoia.
Booman,
What are these morals that you keep talking about?
As far as scandals during Clintontime or Cartertime I have no idea right now.
Also, I wasn’t just talking about the CIA. They’re just tip of the proverbial iceberg as you probably know.
In my opinion these agencies are a terrible problem confronting open democracy in this nation. Who they support and who supports them are not, imho, aligned with the vast majority of people who live here. That is obvious of course to any person who cares to look into it, yet I’m asked to not be too skeptical of their motives and see them as moral! Sorry. No can do.
peace
Now we also have a huge gang of overzealous private security contractors and behavior predictors to contend with.
what do you want me tell you. Life-long Republicans and admirers of Reagan who helped carry out his policies in Central America are coming out of the agencies utterly appalled by what is being done.
Many on the left were appalled by the Contras, and before that Operation Condor. But a line has been crossed and they want to take this President out.
Happened to Nixon and it is happening again.
I’m going to speculate here so if any one doesn’t like this sort of stuff they can skip it.
The reason I think the national/trans-national police agencies are trying to take Chimpy down is because he has exposed (unintentionally, I think) the soft underbelly of the corporate state. This can not be allowed for very obvious reasons. If regular people start to get ideas and begin to make demands for…more sir…, it could cause extreme problems on the bottom-line. Now I’m not saying that regular people would be able to effect change, at least not with out a probably bloody mess which I don’t think they want, at least if they can nip it in the bud sooner rather then later. Yet the masters must protect the golden egg and they will by the ballot or the bullet, to quote a long dead revolutionary.
There ya go. Call me crazy just don’t call me Sue.
Sorry, just saw, “Walk the Line”.
Carter was heavily involved in destablilizing Latin America and other nations through CIA activity, for no good purpose.
If this hearing falls through, as I expect it will, I’m going on a rant of open source information and dig up every detail I can about all of these programs.
If the politicians won’t stop it, then we have to.