The NSA warns whistleblower not to testify
By on Jan 12th, 2006 at 9:21 am
The NSA warns whistleblower not to testify
at congressional hearings about the President’s warrantless domestic spying program.
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How can testifying against illegality be illegal?
The Neoncons have turned America and everything it stands for upside-down.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:28 amTo be a fly on the wall at those hearings ….
January 12th, 2006 at 9:30 amnot exactly off topic, rather a tangent.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:30 amhttp://thewashingtonnote.com
The article he writes about is one that showing up in today’s
The Nation, in which Elizabeth Holtzman outlines an impeachment of Bush, based upon his wiretapping and OTHER offensives. (She was on the Jud. Comm. when Nixon was impeached.)
Thought it might help with “the cause.”
#1 – Because anyone who disagrees with Pres. Bush must be silenced. Didn’t you know that? How can he be referred to as “the best president ever” if people disagree with him?
Now, excuse me as I go light a candle for the loss of liberty and freedom in America.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:31 amI think it’s a safe bet that this guy’s house is bugged!
January 12th, 2006 at 9:35 am“The SAPs to which you refer are controlled by the Department of Defense (DoD) and … neither the staffs nor the members … are cleared to receive the intelligence covered by the SAPs,” Miss Seymour stated.
So, Rummy gets to run the show without any oversight?
January 12th, 2006 at 9:39 amIf the Guy has already blown the Whistle on the NSA program, and we know that Delay and Abramoff, the Russian ‘Producer’ and the Russian Exterminator ‘Delay’ then their is not much secrets to be kept. No Matter HOW hard the NSA or Bush trys, the WORDS are out there and only need to be ‘Linked’ together. The truth about Bushco, as with Gulf Of TonKin SIGINT, will come out.
Stall Tactics. 3 more years of Boy George, King Neo-Kook with his ‘total War’ Followers Netanyahu Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Falwell, AEI Think Tanks and AEI spies. The State dept Runs AMOK.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:44 amThe White House is now just a House, with Occupants.
I should Say Sycophants, not Occupants.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:45 amgreat – the one guy who knows his stuff can’t talk about it…
they’re just going to say everything’s classified to circumvent anymore information coming out… they’ll use the excuse to protect Bush…
January 12th, 2006 at 9:46 amFascist is as Fascist does.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:51 amWelcome to the American Gulag. This can not, will not and must not stand.
First they came for the whistleblowers, but I didn’t say anything….
January 12th, 2006 at 10:00 amRepublican personal security is our national security focus these days. Protect the criminals at all possible costs. Any doubts that the case for treason is being built? Sure does have the feeling of a political endgame underway…
January 12th, 2006 at 10:05 amImpeach the bastards.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:07 amWhat!? How dare someone expose wrongdoing by the POTUS!
January 12th, 2006 at 10:07 amBush is above reproach, as any cursory review of the past 5 years would clearly show.
Instead, we should be giving this exemplary man and his administration even more powers to scrutinize the average citizen, electronically and otherwise, in their righteous- and endless – quest to eliminate all evil in the world.
(turn off sarcasm)
The NSA is an important arm of the fascist government of George Bush. Admonitions by the NSA to a whistleblower concerning the illegal activities by the NSA should be taken for what they are: covert threats.
Unless drastic changes occur, the future of America, its democracy and freedoms, looks grim.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:09 amRenee Seymour, director of NSA special access programs stated in a Jan. 9 letter to Russ Tice that he should not testify about secret electronic intelligence programs because members and staff of the House and Senate intelligence committees do not have the proper security clearances for the secret intelligence.
…
“However, she stated that the programs Mr. Tice took part in were so secret that “neither the staff nor the members of the [House intelligence committee] or [Senate intelligence committee] are cleared to receive the information covered by the special access programs, or SAPs.”
I don’t pay taxes for this kind of un-accountable, unAmerican, unconstitutional b.s.
You’re fired, Ms. Seymour.
And I want Congress to hold full and open hearings about this.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:09 amI posted this yesterday, but it’s worth repeating:
The President’s Attack on Democracy
President George W. Bush has declared that we are in a state of war, a War on Terror. This is not a war in traditional sense, as it involves both an enemy that is not exclusively a nation and tactics that are not exclusively military. In fact, the War on Terror is a conflict more akin to the War on Drugs or the War on Poverty than to World War I, World War II or Viet Nam. It is a struggle against a concept or, more precisely, a tactic used by a loosely connected faction of people with similar ideologies who rabidly dislike our culture, our morals, our worldview and our way of life.
Like the other so-called “warsâ€, this is a war for which there can be no real victory and no known end. There will always be poverty, there will always be drugs and there will always be enemies that wish to do us harm. In fact, the president himself once candidly admitted in an interview that, in regard to the war on terror, “”I don’t think you can win it, but I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world.†He also said in a speech to the American Legion, “In this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table.”
The president, having declared we are at war, further states in essence that in wartime the powers of the executive branch are expanded, and he has the right granted him by the Constitution not only to uphold the law, but also to interpret and create law, as necessary. Thus, he conveys “enemy combatant†status to get around due process statutes. He uses “rendering†as a means of avoiding bans on torture. He engages in “warrantless wiretapping†to eavesdeop on Americans in circumvention of FISA laws. And, most egregiously, he vigorously uses “Presidential Signing Statements†to simply opt out of any law passed by Congress with which he chooses not to comply.
The only way President Bush can maintain this power is to maintain that we are in a state of war. Ending the war means eliminating his power. He will not likely take that step unilaterally. As long as there is no check on this kind of presidential power, the basic freedoms granted to all Americans in the Constitution and Bill of Rights simply no longer exist.
Members of Congress must do one of two things. They must either remove the president from office through the constitutionally mandated process of impeachment on the grounds of high crimes and misdemeanors, or exert their responsibilities under the War Powers Act, which prescribes the balance of power between the president and Congress in declaring war. In doing so, it is up to Congress to take the bold step and assert that it has not in fact declared war, and thus never vested the president with wartime powers the type and scope of which he seems so prone to exploit. Their failure to take one of these two steps amounts to nothing less than an abdication of Constitutional responsibility and a serious threat to the checks and balances inherent in a representative democracy.
Congress must act now to end this executive branch tyranny.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:13 amthe future of America, its democracy and freedoms, ARE grim, Marie.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:19 amThe Rich People, Around the Entire World Stole Democracy and Freedom. Why Do you think Other Nations Love Freedom so Much? Its Because They too Do not want their nation dictated to. Who in their right minds Like Dictators? Certainly NOT The Churches. They Hate Dictators.
(FYI, God, Moses, Jesus, ETC…ALL DICTATORS)
But, Dictators actually work best for the Poor.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:25 amI’m curious to see what our Congressional Reps & Senators have to say about this.
It should be VERY interesting.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:25 am“I don’t pay taxes for this kind of un-accountable, unAmerican, unconstitutional b.s.”
BushRepublicans, breaking the rules, demanding all non-BushRepublicans play by them.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:25 amI hope that Mr. Tice doesn’t have any family for them to threaten and that he is able to follow through.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:30 am#20 — You expect them to do anything other than roll over and play dead?
January 12th, 2006 at 10:31 amthis is why we have ‘closed hearings’…now…’all you congressman raise your right hand and we’ll give you clearance’….now let’s get it done.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:37 amWhich is it, was Congress briefed on this matter or not? Does Congress have oversight of this program or not?
I am sure someone higher up in the cover-up will correct Ms Seymour’s comments.
While we wait for this to happen, find out where everyone named “Edgar” who wants to read 1984 lives, via Data Mining 101: Finding Subversives with Amazon Wishlists
January 12th, 2006 at 10:51 am
Once again bush shows that he is no better – strike that – HE IS FAR WORSE than Saddam AND Bin Laden combined could ever IMAGINE being. The WORLD recognizes this with the exception of a few mentally challenged people here in America.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:52 amI will only repeat this once.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:55 amChinas Population is over 1.5 BILLION People
Indias Population is over 1 Billion People
The ENTIRE Worlds Population is less than6.6 BILLION People.
America has LESS than 300 MILLION People.
IF China And America get into a FIGHT Over Freedom VS Communisim, America WILL Lose A Whole lot more Monetary and Lives than what She is Losing at the Moment with this so called war of terror.
China OUTNUMBERS America by Four People to One.
The Odds of winning a war against China??
I Dont Know.
Dr Benway — You seem to have a Hard time with that Four letter word(F.R.E.E)
January 12th, 2006 at 10:59 amCan you go an Hour without using that four letter word?
Afterall, Its only a word.(That could Kill Us)
http://www.alternet.org/story/30705/
A MUST READ ARTICLE!
January 12th, 2006 at 10:59 amknock, knock, hello? is there anyone there? I guess our government is gone home.
January 12th, 2006 at 11:01 amI challenge everyone in the entire world to NOT use that Four letter word(F.R.E.E.) For just ONE Day.
January 12th, 2006 at 11:01 amTry it. (Its not Easy)
#17 Mark,
Excellent post! Very well said. I was having similar thoughts but hadn’t figured out quite how to express them. You did it very well.
As you said, this is not a war in the traditional sense, but I would add that any “war time” powers that the Founders envisioned the president having applied only to wars in “the traditional sense.” They would NEVER have accepted that the president can declare war on a noun or concept and then utilize authority as “Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces” (not the country, including you and me, but its armed forces) to violate the law and trample on everyone’s constitutional rights. This was exactly the kind of tyranny from which they declared their independence.
Every citizen who says he or she loves this country must write to their Representatives in the House and demand that impeachment proceedings begin. I don’t care how much people think the impeachment of President Clinton hurt the country; that’s the fault of the Republicans for being so vile and vindictive and irresponsible as to go ahead and do it. NOW is the time to seriously use the tool of impeachment. NOW is when we have a president behaving irresponsibly and illegally. NOW is the time for US Representatives who claim to love their country to step up and take it back from this petty tyrant.
January 12th, 2006 at 11:02 amLet me see if I got this right. NSA two weeks ago said they briefed the proper members of congress.
Today they asre saying that Tice should not testify because not a single member of congress has the proper clearance to hear about anything.
These people are really screwed up arent they?
January 12th, 2006 at 11:05 amF.R.E.E.???
You mean like America USED TO be? In Chicago, they just passed a ban on smoking in public places like restaurants and bars and EVERYWHERE else. Part of this ordinance is that you can’t smoke within 100 feet of the enterance to ANY public building.
Glad we still think we’re FREE!
I’m not even a smoker but THIS really frosts my balls. What next? Are our ELECTED leaders going to mandate which days of the week we can have sex?
IF smoking is so bad for people and repulsive to others, WHY NOT BAN CIGS? I’ll tell you why.
BECAUSE THEY BRING SO MUCH REVENUE INTO THE VERY CITIES THAT BAN THEIR USE.
Doesn’t make much sense to me. When are we going to collectively STAND UP and DO SOMETHING before ALL our FREEDOMS are taken away.
January 12th, 2006 at 11:06 ambush don’t want “the enemy” knowing what THEY’RE (bushco) doing?
Define enemy. Would that be ANYBODY against bush and his minions?
I guess that makes ME an enemy then.
January 12th, 2006 at 11:09 am“Yes Mr. Tice, that’s correct. Secretary Rumsfeld wants to see you down in Rape…er…Briefing Room #3 down on Sublevel 9, before you talk to the Senators…
January 12th, 2006 at 11:10 amDebtonator:
How can the enemy know what Bush is doing when BUSH doesn’t even know what he is doing? Maybe that’s the strategy to keep the terra-ists off their game. If we don’t have a plan, then nobody can discover it and stop it. Brilliant!
January 12th, 2006 at 11:12 amMark: You state this as a given: The president, having declared we are at war, further states in essence that in wartime the powers of the executive branch are expanded, and he has the right granted him by the Constitution not only to uphold the law, but also to interpret and create law, as necessary.
In fact, the Constitution confers no such power. It states: “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States”
Congress, on the other hand, has these powers: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.”
Clearly the President has exceeded hos constitutional authority.
January 12th, 2006 at 11:13 amDear Whistleblower,
January 12th, 2006 at 11:14 amPlease come forward, be a hero and save or democracy from the neocon movement treat. It will take a strong will and backbone. You’ll loose your security clearance and ultimately your job. You’ll be smeared as a traitor and a coward. Don’t ride in any small private planes and have your car brakes check regularly. Good luck.
Whistleblowers coming forward sure takes the wind out the sails of the “leak” investigation that the Bushies announced a couple of weeks ago, huh?
January 12th, 2006 at 11:23 amJudd, could you warn us before you send us to the Moonie Times? I feel like I have to take a bath now.
January 12th, 2006 at 11:46 amRenee Seymour, director of NSA special access programs stated in a Jan. 9 letter to Russ Tice that he should not testify about secret electronic intelligence programs because members and staff of the House and Senate intelligence committees do not have the proper security clearances for the secret intelligence.
Then by god give ‘em one!
More Bush*t…
January 12th, 2006 at 11:48 amI wonder what type of warning wants Bush to transmit to whistleblowers using the NSA. A severed horse’s head in their pillows while speeping? It’s a new type of “omertà ”, a mafia-like code of silence?
January 12th, 2006 at 11:56 amOnce again bush shows that he is no better
Bush did all Osama’s work for him. OBL knew the naive and ignorant Bush would do exactly as he saw it.
January 12th, 2006 at 12:33 pmThis is instructive.
“Well, I think it’s time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers.
This idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.
You and I are told increasingly that we have to choose between a left or right, but I would like to suggest that there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down — up to man’s age-old dream — the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order–or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism, and regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.”
Who gave this speech?
Ronald Reagan. Oct. 27, 1964
January 12th, 2006 at 1:03 pmThere is only an up or down — up to man’s age-old dream — the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order–or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism, and regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.â€
Who gave this speech?
Ronald Reagan. Oct. 27, 1964
Comment by ElectricBassPlayer
…just before he ignored congress and gave the order to Ollie and the CIA to trade arms to the Nicaraguan Contras for the hostages in Iran, and smuggle rock cocaine into L.A., while HE personally dismantled PATCO by FIRING all of the striking air traffic controllers who made up their rank and file membership…
What a fu*kin guy!
January 12th, 2006 at 1:11 pm#46. LOL, so at least the modern conservative movement is consistently hypocritical. . .
January 12th, 2006 at 1:12 pm#38 Don, I agree with you. I was referring to the Presidential Oath that he uphold the law, “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”, etc. Clearly he has overstepped.
It has been said recently that other presidents have done the same. Whether you agree with the premise or not, is one thing for presidents such as Lincoln, Roosevelt and Truman to claim extra-constitutional authority in officailly declared wars. It is another to unilaterally declare that a state of war exists and then virtually disband the Constitution.
Murrow said it best: “We can not defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.”
January 12th, 2006 at 2:00 pm46- Indeed. And they called Clinton “slick.”
January 12th, 2006 at 2:01 pm#34
Several years ago our local city school board decided to ban smoking in the stadium at outdoor football games of the city’s only high school.
Surprisingly, not many people objected.
January 12th, 2006 at 2:06 pmSo he can’t testify and his ex-bosses want him called on the carpet. Not the American way, fellas, even if George W fancies himself a dictator who can do no wrong. Are there any Republicans who stand up to this sort of thing? If not, then the Dems have to take some kind of control in the November elections.
January 12th, 2006 at 2:50 pmMark, let there be no doubt, we are at war. When the nation is at war, the President gains only one additional power: he is commander in chief of the armed forces. That’s what the Constitution says. He gains no additional “extra-constitutional” authority. The Congress retains its constitional duties to raise and support military forces, make rules for the government and regulation of these forces, and provide for the general welfare. That’s what the constitution says. Unfortunately, the Congress has not been diligent in performing its duties, distracted as the members are by corporate dollars.
January 12th, 2006 at 7:06 pmI see no point in having the Congress declare that it didn’t declare war. It’s wrong that they didn’t declare war, but they haven’t done so in sixty years (although wars have been conducted) and that’s the way it is.
What Congress needs to do is stop funding the war, but there is no national mandate to do so. About four out of ten Americans support Bush (more than voted for him), and that’s a sad fact.
I think that those of us who want to stop the war must focus on the warmonger’s weak points, which probably are the military forces themselves. I’m talking about counter-recruitment, anti-draft, counter-serve, and counter-perform. That’s what Bush is worried about, too.
As to punishing Bush for exceeding his Constitutional authority, I don’t think it will happen. The American people (some say sheeple) want a strong President, and the Dem pretenders to the throne are just as anxious to get that power. And the rubber-stamp, bought-and-paid-for Congress is happy to remain so.
George Bush and Dick Cheney both ARE OSAMA BIN LADEN!
January 12th, 2006 at 7:56 pmKinda funny… just a couple of days ago, the righteous righties were saying that the dems. who did not “tell all” about the illegal wiretapping, claiming that “whistleblower protections” would have covered them, is here shown to be nothing but crappola. Does anyone remember Bunnatine Greenhouse? She was also warned that she should not testify before congress. She went ahead and did it anyway, and was punished for defying the Bush administration edict. All honest whistleblowers are at risk. But the ones who “leak” to obscure the truth, like “Scooter” Libby, are defended. These hypocrites make me spazz out!! Gotta go twitch now…
January 13th, 2006 at 3:04 am