FISA falsehoods.
FISA falsehoods.
National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell argued in an op-ed today for limiting restrictions on domestic surveillance, saying of the 1978 FISA law:
“Technology and threats have changed, but the law remains essentially the same. … Because the law has not been changed to reflect technological advancements, we are missing potentially valuable intelligence needed to protect America.”
But as Glenn Greenwald notes, Congress altered and “modernized” FISA in 2001, prompting President Bush to say:
The bill before me takes account of the new realities and dangers posed by modern terrorists. … The existing law was written in the era of rotary telephones. This new law I sign today will allow surveillance of all communications used by terrorists, including e-mails, the Internet, and cell phones.
Read Greenwald’s full piece.
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And we won’t have to update it again for a long, long time.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:03 pmIt works fine the way it is! Don’t go fixing it!
Here’s my problem with FISA – it’s not constitutional in and of itself.
The 4th Amendment is pretty clear, and any changes to it can’t be done by writing some law (legislative fiat) – it needs to be done by constitutional amendment.
But, the government, for decades, has changed the law with impunity.
The 4th Amendment isn’t just some “good idea” or a suggestion. It’s the law.
period.
Some reading:
May 21st, 2007 at 8:07 pm“The FISA Farce”
http://www.populistamerica.com/the_fisa_farce
Obviously he hasn’t looked at the law in a while. Obviously.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:14 pmhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904
May 21st, 2007 at 8:23 pmWhoops sorry this link is to the MSNBC impeachment poll!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904
May 21st, 2007 at 8:24 pmNext up: Telescreens.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:26 pmResults on the poll, thus far:
Do you believe President Bush’s actions justify impeachment?
* 429819 responses
May 21st, 2007 at 8:29 pm
May 21st 2007 – In every area of the United States at the state and local level, committee after committee are voting in support of Resolutions calling for Impeachment. The latest call for Impeachment of both Cheney and Bush is the Massachusetts Democratic Party, which at its State Convention on Saturday, May 19, voted in favor of a strong measure calling on the state’s elected Representatives in Washington to investigate both Cheney and Bush for Misleading the Nation into War, for Authorizing Torture, and for Illegal Authorization of Warrantless Wiretapping. Massachusetts thus joins California, which passed a similar resolution less than a month ago at its Annual Democratic Convention. To date, fully 14 State Democratic Parties have now called for Impeachment of Cheney and Bush. Vermont’s State Senate overwhelmingly passed a Resolution calling for Impeachment, and similar Resolutions are currently being considered in the Legislatures of at least 17 states as of today. Over 80 American Cities, Towns and Counties have passed Resolutions calling for Impeachment of both Cheney and Bush, as have at least that many Town and County Democratic Party Organizations, even in conservative areas such as Berkes and Chester County in Pennsylvania. Impeachment Resolutions, which have also passed in so-called “red” states such as Nevada and North Carolina, are a clear sign that Dual Impeachment is the will of the majority of the American rank and file. Polls have consistently shown that the broader American public also want both Cheney and Bush impeached. In October of 2006, Newsweek published a scientific poll showing that 51 percent of Americans favored Impeachment, half of them as a top priority. That poll was taken before Democrats gained control of both the House and Senate, and also before Bush, ignoring the anti-war message of a clear majority of American voters in November, decided instead to increase the number of US troops in the disasterously bloody and costly war in Iraq. Another more recent poll, taken this time by a right-wing organization called InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion, found that fully 39 percent of those respondents even favored Impeachment of both Cheney and Bush, and the percentage in favor of Impeachment in that right-wing poll would almost certainly have been significantly higher if Impeachment of the two had been offered as separate options in the poll.
Recent news shows that Impeachment of both Cheney and Bush is an item of increasingly popular support among the entire American public at large. The worsening Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, Bush’s intransigence and obsession with continuing the slaughter of innocents, and the continued sacrifices of our beloved American military far above and beyond the call of duty have driven Bush’s popularity down to 28 percent, while Cheney’s approval rating is now below 9 percent. At the same time, the U.S. Attorney’s Firing Scandal is engulfing Alberto Gonzales and exposing the outlines of just one aspect of a six-year-long GOP White House-orchestrated campaign to undermine our American Elections process by political manipulation and malfeasance from within our U.S. Justice Department itself. It is now also quite clear that Cheney and Bush’s entirely unlawful National Security Agency spying programs have engaged in such outrageously illegal assaults on private individual American’s Constitutional Civil Liberties, that even then Attorney General John Ashcroft, himself a walking threat to our American Bill of Rights, refused to sign on despite his being pressed to do so from a hospital bed. At this point the U.S. Congressional leadership is every day looking increasingly out of touch with the demands of the American people whom they were elected to represent. The Detroit City Council a few days ago passed a Resolution calling on Congress to immediately begin Impeachment Proceedings. One of those voting in favor of the Impeachment Resolution was Conyers’ wife, a Detroit Alderwoman. Clearly, Cheney and Bush authorized an entirely illegal spying campaign on American soil. They have already been declared to have committed a Felony by a Detroit Federal Judge who tried the Illegal Spying issue last summer. Clearly too, Cheney and Bush have grossly abused their power by summarily claiming “unitary executive powerâ€, yet this fictitious power which is nowhere mentioned, elaborated nor approved in our U.S. Constitution or in any other American law purportedly gives them self-proclaimed “authority” to ignore and invalidate our U.S. Laws which have been duly passed by our legitimately elected U.S. Congress. Finally, Cheney and Bush clearly and repeatedly misled both the U.S. Congress and Senate, and the American people, regarding numerous aspects of the war and lied, failed to disclose, or dispensed entirely with many other items of national importance, all while Cheney and Bush were also clearly authorizing the illegal practices of torture against American captives, and covertly approving and encouraging all manner of illegal, unconstitutional, unlawful and prohibited practices against American private individuals themselves. -adapted from an article by Dave Lindorff.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:35 pmI wonder how soon you’l l also see this in the US? Or something extremely similar.
Blair’s ‘Big Brother’ Britain : ‘Informing’ May Be Made Mandatory …
May 21st, 2007 at 8:37 pmWhat they really mean is that all these new technologies offer whole new ways for them to violate privacy. Their arguements always go back to this talking point.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:45 pm#5 -Saywho: excellent numbers on that poll. I know it’s an online poll, but still, the numbers are much higher than I would have thought.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:55 pmFrom the beginning, the administration’s amen corner has aggressive claimed that the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the wartime Commander-in-Chief powers give President Bush the statutory and constitutional basis for sidestepping the FISA process for domestic electronic surveillance. But most in the GOP are downright sheepish when it comes to the third argument that logically flows from their first two: FISA itself is unconstitutional. Their trepidation is well founded; as a matter of law and of politics, an attack by Republicans on the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is bound to fail.
For th full story, see:
May 21st, 2007 at 9:05 pm“FISA and the Republicans’ Constitutional Crisis.”
The Old Brit, I do believe you had a head start on us in draconian laws. We will get there.
May 21st, 2007 at 9:09 pmGeorge W Bush signed the updated to FISA, making it the law of the land. All the while, he continued to violate the very same law.
Is George W Bush a moron or a criminal? In any case, history will pick his bones clean. George W Bush will be remembered as the worst United States President in history.
May 21st, 2007 at 9:39 pmJeremiah, history will forget that he couldn’t complete a full sentence. He will be remembered as one evil bastard.
May 21st, 2007 at 9:44 pmJPark,
The Republicans, Neocons and George W Bush have failed in everything they have attempted. America is more vulnerable, is poorer, has less influence and has a bleaker future as a result of these failures.
Sure, they have fattened themselves and their cronies through corruption along the way. However, they clearly didn’t intend to fail in everything. In addition to his evilness in scheming to start an unprovoked war, history will remember George W Bush for his stupidity and the price it cost America.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:10 pmJeremiah, I am not sure they failed at anything. Their corporate allies are making a killing at the expense of both Iraqi and American citizens. They may be immoral f!cks, but they are damned good at it.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:16 pm“Is George W Bush a moron or a criminal?”
Both!
May 21st, 2007 at 10:54 pmMcConnell shows such ignorance of history and the law, I have no idea what to say?
May 21st, 2007 at 11:38 pmDisenfranchised Republican, Democratic, Independent and Americans of every other party are acting together to force changes in both parties platforms. Our goal is to affect the course of the ship of state and cause both primary parties to adopt our platform or have the support we gather vote for the party that does include our platform. We the American people demand change in this nation which has gone astray. FIRST and formost a PERMANENT BAN on ALL experiments involving torture against citizens of the United States, WHETHER they involve the furthering of military experimental studies OR behavioral modification to dissuade commercial competition, or for ANY OTHER purpose against unarmed American private individual citizens. Public review of all foreign aid packages; upon discovery that such aid is ill- advised based on current political and or military security such aid be increased or withdrawn. Public review of NAFTA and GAT that have resulted in the reduction of jobs and the industrial base in the USA. Increase in the number of Senate, Congressional, State and Local acceptance and action on letters from the public complaining of systemic abuse and corruption as it is now routine that that such reports of corruption go unread, unadressed and unanswered.
That investigations into deliberate “clearing” of the population to allow an influx of foreigners be assigned a high priority, as well as complete investigations into “Eugenics” programs carried out by ANY party on American soil and the strictest PROHIBITIONS thereupon emplaced. As an example, the following proposed legislation about human rights and the course of our plan to reform the nation. Support the privately proposed BILL “Safeguard USA” from John Mecca. Attacks by government agents on innocent men, women and children in their homes within the United States by using implanted microchips and microwave guns is going on all over the country. The following proposed BILL titled “Safeguard USA” was sent to all U.S. Senators Jan. 11, 2006. Thousands of web sites have stories about ordinary people reporting the same activity. Fraudulent profiles are used to allow adding names of anybody to enemy combatant lists, making it lawful to launch
unnecessary investigations using devices that destroy the immune system of those under surveillance. Doctors, lawyers, politicians, clergy are not immune from being placed on the lists of those to be placed under this form of investigation; then there are the innocent women and children also being attacked in this manner. Read carefully then take action. The US government, federal, state and local authorities and other parties are using microwave and acoustic weapons as well as implanted devices to attack thousands of Americans openly in their homes right now today. This is a well documented fact well known but not reported in the mainstream news. We implore you to write to your Senators and call their offices in support of the “Safeguard USA” Proposed BILL. Many lives are in serious danger, your efforts will insure that Freedom in this country still does exist. A full copy of the BILL is below for review. We need your help to implement the strategy of pressuring Senators to do what is legally and morally right. At the top & bottom of the page you will find a URL link to all internet newspapers and most big media outlets, Senators, and Congressmen. Write a letter to them to build up pressure and interest in passing the BILL regarding innocent Americans plight. The Legislation proposal has already been sent to ALL Senators and 100 Congressmen, Most Media Outlets Newspapers, TV Networks and Magazines. Totaling approximately 240 snail US postal mail letters with the Safeguard USA Legislation and explanatory letters; the plan is for 100 or so more. Because of cost only Calif. and NY Congressmen were sent letters. Write & call to all that you can. As you will read in the Legislation the Senators have 30 days to respond favorably. If they refuse to address properly the issue to make it illegal we need to send follow up letters to those we first wrote to saying that the Senators refused or did not respond and therefore they are endorsing TORTURE. Let everyone know then when and if they refuse that they are in favor of TORTURE of their own citizens without trial and in front of their families. This is mentioned as well in the legislation.
All legitimate Americans of any moral conscience must get on board with this immediately as these programs have been conducted for decades already. Now is the time for all Americans to come to the aid of their Nation. God Bless you all and may you find Strength, Courage, and Freedom. Again what I ask of you is to go about a campaign of writing to get the people in this country to pay attention especially referencing Guantanamo and other secret prison torture activities wherein your letters pointedly tell about torture in our homes here inside the US borders. Proposed Legislation Letter sent to all Senators follows:
To: Honorable Senators: Senate, Washington D.C. Urgent: U.S. Citizens Tortured and Murdered Under Guise of Experimentation & Investigation Inside U.S. borders. Honorable Senators: This is a request to have the new Bill titled “Safeguard USA” brought to the attention of the Senate. We ask you as a Senator to endorse it and immediately pass it through to Congress. Text of the “Safeguard USA” Bill follows explanation as to “the” why of its purpose. Reasons you will benefit from presenting this Bill to the Senate are multiple. Private American individuals are rapidly losing confidence in the legitimacy of our governmnet and raising their voices in perfectly justified indignation. Internationally, America has been identified as a bastion of Human Rights, yet even now those rights are routinely violated every day. By supporting this legislation, activist groups around the country will endorse you and a re-awakening of respect will be part of your legacy. You need to do this to retain any moral authority or legitimate claim to leadership. You can save lives and stem potential dissent that must result from the continued allowance of these heinous, inhuman, unamerican illegal criminal activities. You can save lives that are covertly and secretly being destroyed with the encouragement of illegal, amoral, illegitimate, unamerican, unethical and entirely criminal elements within our own governmnet and society. You can stop a nazi infection, which if allowed to continue will divide and very possibly destroy our beloved nation as that is the aim of these criminals. Above all in doing so you will save our nation and bring back our country, gaining the confidence and trust of the people once again.
You have 30 days to answer this inquiry. Should you not answer within 30 days, it will be understood from your inaction that you are actually in favor of allowing covert torture using directed radio waves and secretly implanted devices on U.S. citizens inside their houses being done by the U.S. GOVERNMENT and its Associates. Subsequently notice will be made to the general public, media and industry as to where you stand on this proposed legislation titled (Safeguard USA). Obviously constituents, media and industry that we will contact with your decision will be totally shocked if such legislation is not wholeheartedly endorsed. All persons who have authority to stop such activity and do not, will be accomplices in such capital crimes. This letter is on behalf of several thousand citizens being tortured in their homes right here in the United States. All of their requests to authorities for help have been ignored and their own research into this matter indicates secret National Security policy is responsible. If you do not know about or do not wish to believe that such things are going on as described, regardless there should be such a law as that proposed in this correspondence. If you truly don’t know about this it may have to do with the phrase “Need To Know” used to keep even Senators from knowing about dark activities; so you should demand from the CIA, NSA, FBI, “Homeland” Security and Police the facts about it, and then consider that they will be telling you half-truths. Such a law should be on the books regardless of the beliefs of non-technically oriented individuals. Those who are victims are reporting the same torturous behavioral and immune system destruction technology is being used, such as directed energy radio frequency and implanted devices. From their research they are finding that it is being done by a combination of law enforcement investigations together with military run corporate research, sanctioned by many policy annunciation’s. One of many legislated policies that appears to be being used and needs to be made moot is U.S. Code “War and National Defense” Subpart 1520a, this statute has text that can be interpreted to allow any action on any citizen. Such a legislative debacle must be corrected by proposing and passing the enclosed “Proposed Legislation (Safeguard USA)”.
Senators, too, might be implanted with a covertly installed microchip yourselves or be subjects of directed energy mind control experimentation to sway your opinion through hypnotic suggestion or decrease your mental acuity in order to force you to defer much of your reading and decision making to others. Our investigation has shown from experience that people doing this have chosen extraordinarily wealthy people, police, FBI Agents and on a subjected basis there are indicators from watching prominent politicians on television that may be victims as well. Symptoms can be as simple as waking up haggard, insomnia, just as you are drifting off to sleep feeling shocks or seeing faint lights or hearing mechanical sounds. It would pay for you to follow up and learn as much as possible about these things; a large number of private individual Americans across the U.S. have supplied information that could certainly be useful to save America from these despicably unamerican criminal activities. Additionally as a separate issue, we ask for your endorsement to fund a new federal agency to be called “Safeguard USA Corps” which will be chaired by private persons who have been victims, to oversee counter-surveillance of illegal electronic attack and or harmful electronic investigative activities such as described here in this letter using existent advanced technology to detect and arrest ALL offenders regardless of unconstitutional extra-legal pronouncements used in carrying out their objectives. Further details of this proposed “Safeguard USA Corps” will be sent upon your response to our priority issue of the Proposed Legislation. Your liability is genuine as we will bring the attention of the American people to this issue affecting their most basic Constitutional Rights and Freedoms. In advance of any legislative process you must consider that if it is diluted to any degree it will not be effective as regards to this proposed legislation formulation.
The American people will in fact take action in regard to any opportunity to bring those to justice whom defer or ignore this demand of immediate cessation of actions against Constitutionally protected American citizens and private individual Americans. Be additionally ADVISED that many thousands of victims mentioned are being used to hide the actual true numbers affected, which research has been developed suggesting that a full 1/2 of the U.S. population may already have been implanted with advanced polymer plastic implants nearly impossible to detect. The symptoms where people are sensitized to radio frequency energy can be modest enough that such victims have few if any symptoms; however upon their general sensitization being accomplished the operators of the transmitters can increase the energy and modulate the frequency to cause heart attack, stroke or death along with conditions such as auto immune disorders, syndromes, mental depreciation of concentration or diminished capability to the level of 3 year- olds or as simple as sleep deprivation symptoms even without causing outright insomnia. “Proposed Legislation”: “Safeguard USA” PROHIBITED with liability of Criminal Penalties are any action on any United States citizen where they are under investigation or experimented on without their express personal signatory knowledge and permission, which in either case where methods are used that can adversely affect their physiology; enforceable regardless as well whether or not those carrying out such activities are aware of the adverse effects being present.
This Statute is in force for any action on any United States citizen where they are experimented on without their express personal signatory knowledge of and permission to do so. Methodology prohibited by this statute are acoustic devices such as LRAD, radio frequency, microwave, see through the wall technology, drugs, gasses, biological materials, hypnotic methodology of any kind, electromagnetic energy, internally implanted, external microchip
transmitters, photon device whether hybrid or not, masers or any device emitting any kind of energy. Prohibited by this statute is the use of such devices mentioned herein by any and all branches of government whether Federal, State, or Local Authority, or by any private source foreign or domestic without exemption. Furthermore no legal or extra-legal authority may grant or even entertain special mitigation of the prohibition of the use of such devices and techniques for use on any private individual or any American citizen. Such prohibition is in force regardless of any reasons even when National Security Issues are considered to be at risk; this is due to their being issues presented during the formation of this statute that such assertions of National Security as an issue has been abused and will therefore continue to be used as a shield to permit heinous immoral acts, therefore such shields must as well be prohibited. Covered by this statute are all entities or persons mentioned as having used, or potentially could have or may have caused others to use such devices and technology mentioned, as Criminally liable and Civilly liable without any limit whatsoever on punitive damages. Whether or not it was known by them while they were committing such acts where they were unaware such technology could adversely affect the persons being targeted knew of such dangers as it is the obligation of the authors, operators and managers to know such issues of danger having to do with such activities. This legislation will be effective retroactive to the time where mental or physically harmful effects have caused harm to any US citizen or private individual American, whether or not such citizen was stripped of their full citizenship rights by secret legislation not disclosed to them. In addition all and any FOIA / FOIL requests where reference to a persons being exposed to potentially dangerous methodology as described here must under this legislation without exception have their requests properly filled without redaction, and their request exempted from all exemptions that could be used to refuse their request. Furthermore no agency bar none is exempt from
FOIA / FOIL requests even such as the “Homeland” Security Agency. Additionally, even such agencies which have exemptions permitting their refusal to answer including any agency or organization having exemption from FOIA /FOIL requests, as well as all private entities must comply with answering FOIA / FOIL requests pertinent to the issues contained herein and subject to the penalties outline within this legislation described. All efforts are to be made to investigate and release records pertinent to the use of all human beings that have been used in the way described in this Statute for the purpose of apprising them of their being targeted. Such efforts will further be in the form of public announcements in newspapers, radio and television at the expense of the U.S. Government to commence immediately upon the passing of this Statute. “Penalties”: PENALTIES for breaking this Statute and being found guilty are mandatory 40-year sentence without possibility of parole. This liability of penalty applies to any person regardless of political rank, military rank, civil servant rank as well as all civilians including medical doctors or researchers and their associates. As well as any person whom knows about such activities and does nothing to report such activities, whether or not a superior tells them to say nothing; where saying nothing makes them an accomplice to a crime by their silence. Liable parties would include enforcement authorities who refuse to listen and act when told of such activities by whistle-blowers or victims and refuse to investigate properly where by this statute they are required to investigate with the legally authorized use of technology existing for such purpose, where such equipment is to be paid for by the U.S. Government. Destruction of files pertinent to human experimentation and the files of projects having to do with human experimentation and or investigation as mentioned herein are liable both Criminally and Civilly regardless of their being in government or private organizations or persons. Destruction of files despite their existence after the fact of destruction will carry the proscribed penalties for such persons and for their superiors.
NO legal exemptions to this statute are permitted for any agency or person including agency heads and also apply to foreign persons regardless of their having diplomatic immunity. This legislation supercedes all immunity and exemptions for independent action by all civil and military authority executives. Where further as an issue all laws, statutes, policy, directives and practices to experiment on any U.S. citizen or private individual American without their express personal signatory knowledge of and permission, are hereby considered illegal and moot; where such prior laws, statutes, policy, directives and practices allowing such are required to be removed from all files of any kind. All such permissions from subjects when obtained as stipulated by this proposed legislation upon its adoption are required to be sent notices monthly reaffirming their permission and consent in writing where they would need to sign anew such a document and then send it back to the requesting authority, otherwise it expires the permission; to continue the experimental activity on that person to further prevent abuse. Such permission contracts are required to be specially worded with a statement at the very top of the first page of a monthly notice made in bold #16 typeset print have the following statement ” You have given your authorization to be experimented on for the following described experiment “. Furthermore, NO person is allowed to give their permission to do any experiment on another person regardless of the anticipated subjects mental capacity to understand the issues, wherein another person takes responsibility for such permission as such action on behalf of another is illegal and punishable by 40 years without possibility of parole in prison for engaging in volunteering a person. End of Proposed Legislation…
May 22nd, 2007 at 2:29 am