“Congress has a right to Declare War [on Domestic enemies].”

Seriously?

“Individuals can do bad things” is not a sufficient reason to quash the US Constitution. A future president could thus decide to react to a simple murder with draconian tactics to protect us ALL from similar attacks on our person. There is literally no difference imo.

The glaring problem is that several other officials took an oath to both uphold our Constitution, and to protect the nation from “domestic enemies”. What led us to war as a result of this attack? Especially with the lack of evidence actually revealed to the American public that Al Qaida did ANYTHING … the vast MAJORITY of Americans believe that trusting this administration about literally THOUSANDS of aspects where evidence DOES exist, but we were simply not SHOWN the “proof” because it would obviously help the enemy. riiiight.

As for the physical “Tap”, I think that it was all electronic. He would just patch the phone through to one of the agencies. They had some technical problems which could have made some of their targets aware that they were being tapped. I think the voice and data went to the the FBI, but it could have been NSA. I think that they were not only interested in conversations, but the network of phone numbers which where called and received.

I didn’t talk to him much about it, so I don’t know many details. I’m not even sure that the techs got anything more than phone numbers, but knowing this guy, he probably learned a lot more. To him it was just a high paying contract job. Just a young guy with a family who needed a job and probably doesn’t think to much about the morality of what he was doing.

I didn’t approve and used to kid him about working for the “Anti-Christ” and advised he get a lawyer for when the country’s attitude changed about all this and they started putting people in jail. He seemed to think that he was protected by the Patriot act.

As for me getting involved, I hate to say it, but I’m just not an activist anymore. I spent a couple of years of my life around another controversial incident about 10 years ago and I just have other ways I want to spend my time these days. I know that the republic is going to hell as we stand by like the Germans before WWII, but I’m still not getting involved. I’m very obsessive and have to be careful about what I get interested in because it becomes all consuming.

I would say that if you are interested, you can go at it from the cell phone companies or from the government side. Besides the Patriot Act paperwork, you might be able to get the invoices easier.

I’m sure that papers like the Times and Post already are well aware of this, as their reporters were targets, and they knew enough to advise countermeasures.

Good Luck.

Bill

Have you considered contacting Henry Waxman’s office about this? Or perhaps Russ Feingold’s office (he’s on the Senate Intelligence Committee and I trust his integrity). Even just anecdotal information from you about this spying that might conflict with what Congress is (or was) being told by the White House might be very valuable to them (and us!). [Feingold would know classified details about the program that Waxman wouldn't, so Feingold might make more sense.] Even if you have to do it anonymously through an email or phone call at first to gauge Feingold’s interest.

[Or maybe instead or in addition, pick a reporter to alert via email like Murray Waas or Robert Parry (reported on Iran/Contra), who would likely be willing to do some shoe-leather work to (anonymously if you wanted) report this story based on your tips (both are trustworthy and haven't sold their souls to placate corporate censors, and will report the truth when they find it).]

Especially if you have any further detail about what “putting them in” means — what sort of physical process was being used to tap cell phones, which “major,” and when most of the work was done, etc. Or details like the names of any particular targets in the categories you mention. I assume your friend/acquaintance wouldn’t be interested in helping us to re-instate the Fourth Amendment (since he indirectly helped violate it), but without naming him, you could do us out here in put-upon citizen land a huge favor by helping to blow the whistle on this brazen criminality by our federal Executive Branch, if you could and would.

Thanks for considering it, and thanks very much for posting your comments about it here for everyone to see.

This is why the New York Times and Washington Post advised their people to change their cell phones often, but that didn’t help much, because they have the ability to tap the new numbers quickly.

When Gonzales admitted that the NSA program did not involve terrorism or terrorist activity, he basically admitted that the program was unlawful because if it didn’t involve terrorism or terrorist activity, the government was required to obtain a warrant under Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.

No one has to take my word for it. Just look it up. You’ll find the law in volume 18 of the United States Code, Sections 2510 through 2520. If you look it up in an annotated version of the code, you can read short summaries of all of the cases that have applied the statute.

Yes, Gonzales is dumber than a box of rocks. Worse, he is a smirking crook. He absolutely must be impeached, prosecuted for violating the law, and imprisoned for a very long time.

http://www.light-to-dark.com/four_lapel_pins.html

The dictatorship is hardly a unitary executive, but a multi-headed politburo-like beast. A C.I.C. simply does not exist.

http://www.light-to-dark.com/but_whats_a_hard_drive.html
.

See theres part of the problem … Gonzo thinks only about whats best for himself and Bush … not the citizens of this country he supposedly serves.

Mr. Comey also had a problem with Mr. Gonzalez going to visit AG Ashcroft in the hospital, presenting a program and asking for authority to proced with it without the AG having the benefit of hearing diverse views from other advisors. He didn’t want Ashcroft “taken advantage of” in that manner. Were there other programs pursued by the Feds? Yes! One of them was the tracking of terrorist fund transfers through international banking sources which has been reported by the NYT and admitted by the Bush Administration. Are there others? Yes! There are numerous NSA intercepts of foreign communications, of photographic monitoring by the US Maping Agency, through the use of electronic “drone” aircraft, etc. We have lots of programs, as rightly we should when trying to interdict terrorist attacks.

Reports of terrorist “dry runs” at airports that is in the news today is just one indicator that we must be vigilant, because the enemy has not given up trying to attack us. I want all of the productive programs we can get! I want to catch terrorists, and I want to be protected the the maximum level possible.

Things haven’t changed much in the White House. “Fredo” Gonzales is still the Hispanic “house boy” and Dubya is still the “Chief Executioner” — insurgent or innocent Iraqis, American soldiers, it doesn’t matter –he’s the “Master of the World” in his own mind.

In reality, or course, he’s a cowardly chickenhawk who served in the “Champagne Unit” of the Texas Air National Guard during Vietnam (and who even went “AWOL” from that). Now, he’s “hollow Prince Hal,” the presumably royal heir who sends other people to die for a war that he would avoid like the plague.

A Pox on the House of Bush.

There is no accountability in this country. None. America is in a very serious crisis.

It seems obvious to me, and has for some time, that the “other intelligence activities” of which Gonzales spoke today refers to a previous version of the Terrorist Surveillance Program than the revised TSP that Bush confirmed in December, 2005.

Why wasn’t that follow-up question asked, in order to pin down and clarify whether the “disagreements” that led to the Comey hospital showdown related to a previous version of the TSProgram which was, after its revision and 2004 DOJ reauthorization, confirmed by the president in 12/2005?

Understand, as I assume the Senators must, that Gonzales is parsing in such a way that his answers presume that the TSP is two programs. To wit:

1. The TSProgram before Comey and Ashcroft blew the whistle on the TSP in March, 2004.

and

2. The TSProgram after the TSP was modified as a result of Comey and Ashcroft blowing the whistle on the TSP in March, 2004 (which is the version of the TSP that the president “confirmed” in December, 2005).

“There wasn’t any serious disagreement about the program.” That testimony is Gonzales referring to Item #2, which is “the” TSProgram after the DOJ disagreement(s) had been resolved and settled by way of a revised TSP in 2004.

So damn it, Senators: Understand what is going on here. Either Gonzales is separating the TSP program into two – one pre-hospital and the second post-hospital – OR there are other, non-TSP-related (revised or unrevised) spying activities that Bush has not spoken about publicly and of which most of you still remain ignorant.

And just for the record: Continuing to countenance these flagrant AG lies to you and your committee, Senators, while engaging in fruitless, gratituous insults and flagellation of the shameless man in front of you who is deceiving you and us in bad faith at every turn, only means that you are complicit in the lowering of standards of conduct expected of those holding high Executive Branch office in our government, and in the lowering of respect for those of you representing us in our Legislative Branch. Tell your House colleagues to act on impeachment inquiries, of Gonzales’s boss(es) and/or the AG himself, censure him, or otherwise, but cut out the charades that pull us all down into the mud with you.

Impeach em all, then we will get to the bottom of these scandalous and traitorous coverups!

We seem to be governed by a bunch of fools. Any other country laughing at us?