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Primary Sources: It’s Hard to Do PR for Warrantless Surveillance

Bush%20phone.jpgThe White House certainly doesn't make suing George W. Bush a cakewalk. A lawyer challenging Bush's warrantless surveillance program darkly recounted on Salon the extreme lengths the government went to to ensure watertight secrecy in the case.

The Salon article is well worth reading, as this NSA oddity I unearthed recently while fact-checking.

The National Security Agency, apparently feeling the heat from a citizenry up in arms over their wiretapping program, released a factsheet in 2006 to clear some things up with the American public. The actual title:

"The NSA Program to Detect and Prevent Terrorist Attacks: Myth v Reality."

Some examples of those myths:

Myth:

"The NSA program is illegal."



Reality:

"It has long been recognized that the President has inherent authority to conduct warrantless surveillance to gather foreign intelligence even in peacetime."

Myth:

"The NSA program is a domestic eavesdropping program used to spy on innocent Americans."

Reality:

"The NSA program is narrowly focused, aimed only at international calls and targeted at al Qaeda and related groups. Safeguards are in place to protect the civil liberties of ordinary Americans."

And so on.

Now that Congress has handed the big telecoms a free pass for enabling government eavesdropping, can they at least throw us a safeguard to protect ordinary Americans?


Photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov.

—Nichole Wong






Comments

The Post-bush recovery period

There are major questions outstanding regarding Bush & the administrations culpability, substance, competence etc.. The US is in sad need at minimum a major image make-over. There are no good/clear answers to our problems, however the US needs to win back confidence by bucking up and displaying real leadership.

First stop the money-corruption cycle, do away with political-influence money and lobbyists by funding our election campaigns exclusively from the US tax dollar with equal amounts of money to support the top five parties/candidates. Vote with your ballot for if you vote with the dollar big money is winning now and will win every time

Second request independent unimpeded UN investigations of bush II & staff. If requested turn any or all over to a word court for further war crimes investigation and any suggested impeachment and/or penalty. The proceedings should be held in a Nrnberg style court of law with goals to find out and daylight what bushII and the Texas Taliban have done to our rights & liberties as well as addressing any war crimes carried out by leadership.

Third turn all 2000/2004 election records over to an independent UN committee for investigation and possible corrective and/or punitive measures.

Fourth request the UN provide unrestricted oversight of our future presidential elections.

Fifth validate the treaties so rashly nullified post 9/11. Void the five-year-old legal opinion from former Justice Department official John Yoo asserting that President George W. Bush possessed nearly unlimited authority as Commander in Chief, including the power to have military interrogators abuse terror suspects.

Sixth Repeal the Patriot act, FISA laws, Military Commissions Act of 2006 and The Protect America Act. Roll all our rights and liberties back (or should I say forward) to the pre-drug war days and reinstitute laws only if they pass stringent (read Libertarian) Constitutional tests.

Seven Israel/Palestine have squandered our credibility, money and efforts over a 50 year span and still unable to settle their differences. Give 90 days notice, wash our hands of all responsibilities, pull out and let the chips fall where they may.

Eight restore the possibility of a third party (a real choice) winning an election. See number one.

Nine punish the politicos for corruption not the usual symbolic slap on the hand we now accept as justice for our elected officials. Around twenty years without possibility of parole is justified for selling out our country and nation.

Ten rigorously enforce the separation of church and state mandate.

Eleven. Our justice system is too important a component of the US balance of powers to play fast and loose. Investigate the bush II prosecutor dismissals and the Roberts/ Alito Supreme Court appointments if any impropriety's are evident replace the appointments in question with new candidates. The Bush administration & DOJ are not cooperating with investigations. Key administration players are refusing to testify and the Attorney General has memory problems.

Twelve. As long as we are digging up bones we need to look at all the bones. To maintain our own internal balance we need to expend some effort in answering US historical questions not satisfied or glossed over by government responses. Determine the extent of credibility of but not limited to: Eisenhower’s Military-Industrial Complex warning, the warren Commission report, Iran-Contra, Jackson & Kent State, PNAC, Danforth Report, The Nixon, Hoover and Joe McCarthy activities, MK-ultra, The Cold War, 9/11, FISA court, flight 800, and our records classification process.

Last The Department of Defense is a distancing euphemism; restore its original name 'The War Department'.

Posted by: Ringo on 07/21/08 at 12:44 PM  Respond

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