The vile J. Edgar Hoover spied on his political enemies and
allies. Dick Nixon felt he was above the law in dealing with his enemies. Thanks to the excesses of both, laws were passed in the 1970’s
to help curtail abuse of power and intimidation of citizens. Thirty years later, Duhbya, who makes Nixon look like a civil libertarian,
began rolling back the Freedom of Information Act on day one of his presidency — long before he heard of Al Qaeda. BushCo is a secretive
bunch who feel empowered to do anything to “protect America,” including undermining the very system they claim to protect.
9/11
had a devastating impact on many. It has left very real scars on many. It is understandable that would include people at the top, who
must feel real guilt for failing to stop 9/11 in the first place (I am not blaming them; I believe they blame themselves). That guilt and
fear drives BushCo to make countless errors. They are in no position to fix anything. Time to retire and let the healing begin. mjh
Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts – New York Times
By JAMES RISEN and ERIC
LICHTBLAU
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 – Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency
to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved
warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.
The previously undisclosed decision
to permit some eavesdropping inside the country without court approval was a major shift in American intelligence-gathering
practices, particularly for the National Security Agency, whose mission is to spy on communications abroad. As a result, some
officials familiar with the continuing operation have questioned whether the surveillance has stretched, if not crossed,
constitutional limits on legal searches.
“This is really a sea change,” said a former senior official who specializes in
national security law. “It’s almost a mainstay of this country that the N.S.A. only does foreign searches.”
Nearly a dozen
current and former officials, who were granted anonymity because of the classified nature of the program, discussed it with reporters for
The New York Times because of their concerns about the operation’s legality and oversight. …
The White House asked The New York
Times not to publish this article, arguing that it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they
might be under scrutiny. After meeting with senior administration officials to hear their concerns, the newspaper delayed
publication for a year to conduct additional reporting.
[mjh: A year? What was going on a year ago. Oh,
yeah, an election in which the electorate was kept in the dark by collusion between the State and the Press. The advesarial and “liberal”
press was kept in check by claims of national security — a blanket used to cover anything the imperial President wishes to do.]
…
Widespread abuses – including eavesdropping on Vietnam War protesters and civil rights activists – by American intelligence
agencies became public in the 1970’s and led to passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which imposed strict limits on
intelligence gathering on American soil.
Bush Authorized Domestic Spying By Dan Eggen, Washington Post
Staff Writer
The revelations come amid a fierce congressional debate over reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, an anti-
terrorism law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Patriot Act granted the FBI new powers to conduct secret searches
and surveillance in the United States.
Most of the powers covered under that law are overseen by a secret court that meets at
Justice Department headquarters and must approve applications for wiretaps, searches and other operations. The NSA’s operation
is outside that court’s purview, and according to the Times report, the Justice Department may have sought to limit how much that court
was made aware of NSA activities.
—–
On Hill, Anger
and Calls for Hearings Greet News of Stateside Surveillance By Dan Eggen and Charles Lane, Washington Post Staff Writers
Some
prominent Republicans defended the surveillance, arguing it was necessary to combat terrorism. “I don’t agree with the libertarians,”
said Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.). “I want my security first. I’ll deal with all the details after that.” [mjh: How can Lott still be a Senator?]
—–
Part of the unchanging mantra BushCo
has spewed against those who feel war was shoved down our throats has been that everyone saw the same intelligence reports. Yet another
lie. mjh
Report: Bush Had More Prewar Intelligence Than Congress By Dafna
Linzer, Washington Post Staff Writer
A congressional report made public yesterday concluded that President Bush and his inner
circle had access to more intelligence and reviewed more sensitive material than what was shared with Congress when it gave Bush the
authority to wage war against Iraq.
Democrats said the 14-page report contradicts Bush’s contention that lawmakers saw all the
evidence before U.S. troops invaded in March 2003, stating that the president and a small number of advisers “have access to a far
greater volume of intelligence and to more sensitive intelligence information.” …
Bush has fiercely rejected those claims. “Some
of the most irresponsible comments — about manipulating intelligence — have come from politicians who saw the same intelligence I saw
and then voted to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein,” he said this week.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who is
on the Senate intelligence committee, disagreed. “The report demonstrates that Congress routinely is denied access to intelligence
sources, intelligence collection and analysis,” she said.