No warrants necessary. And the Dems let him have it. (NYT):
President Bush signed into law on Sunday legislation that broadly expanded the government’s authority to eavesdrop on the international telephone calls and e-mail messages of American citizens without warrants.Melissa has a good roundup of reaction over at her pad, including, the ACLU, Larisa Alexandrovna, Glenn Greenwald, Shayana Kadidal, Publius, and Steve Benen. Kevin Drum:Congressional aides and others familiar with the details of the law said that its impact went far beyond the small fixes that administration officials had said were needed to gather information about foreign terrorists. They said seemingly subtle changes in legislative language would sharply alter the legal limits on the government’s ability to monitor millions of phone calls and e-mail messages going in and out of the United States.
They also said that the new law for the first time provided a legal framework for much of the surveillance without warrants that was being conducted in secret by the National Security Agency and outside the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 1978 law that is supposed to regulate the way the government can listen to the private communications of American citizens.
…Previously, the government needed search warrants approved by a special intelligence court to eavesdrop on telephone conversations, e-mail messages and other electronic communications between individuals inside the United States and people overseas, if the government conducted the surveillance inside the United States.
“All [the government have] to do is claim that the real target is the foreigner and that a ’significant purpose’ of the eavesdropping is related to intelligence gathering. Not terrorism, mind you, just intelligence generically. What’s more, they don’t even have to go to the minimal trouble of making that claim to a court. They can just make it and approve it themselves. So that’s that. The government is now legally allowed to monitor all your calls overseas with only the most minimal oversight. But don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll never misuse this power. They never have before, have they?”
20 Responses to “Bush extends his reach into citizens’ privacy yet again”
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The Dems didn’t let him have it, they eagerly gave it to him.
To Do List:
* Start bookmarking EU, Canadian, and Aus/NZ immigration websites.
*Price rents, salaries, etc. in said countries.
* Sign up for a refresher French course, or maybe start from scratch in German. How much of a foreign language do I need to know to get a job in Europe?
* Look into storage options for the antiques I’m not willing to sell off.
Finish by: November 2008
It’s simple. If anybody was interested in stopping this sort of thing, all they had to do is convince the American public that spying on ANYBODY, citizen or foreign is bad, full stop.
Once we all agreed that spying was good, everything else, as they say, is elementary.
Al-Qaeda! Al-Qaeda! Al-Qaeda!! 9/11, 9/11, 9/11!!! Dems weak on Terror! Dems weak on terror! Your fault if an attack happens. Your fault if an attack happens. Inmminent threat! 9/11, 9/11, 9/11!! Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda!!!This has been a test of the Republican Emergency Legislation
RequestDemand System. If this had been a real legislative emergency, the Democratic Congressional leadership and a sufficient number of Democratic members would have prostrated themselves before the mighty will of our President and delivered an appropriately obsequious piece of legislation.Please return to your regularly monitored activities. All is Well.
Riffing off opoponax upstream:
Got frienz’n'fams overseas and in other lands? Tell them to contact supporters of this atrocity by phone or email from a public ‘puter-locale.
Go crazy.
Locales that serve Turkish coffee, bhaba ganoush or a rilly rilly good vegan shawarma give added oomph and speed the inevitable discovery of Cornyn (R-Gimme Some of that Fine Boxturtle Ass Now Goddammit) in extra-species flagrante.
Should they want to BCC, aw fuck it, CC the turncoat Dems who caved on this, all the better. You can find the miscreants in Meteor Blades bravura Aug 07 2007 editorial, which goes a little something like this …
This has left me sputtering in anger all week-end. And there’s still very little blow-back in any of the major MSM sites about the Democratic capitulation to Bush and Gonzo on this major take-down of Democratic rights.
i called my Senator Fenistein’s office to complain loudly about her yes vote, and hope any Californians out there will do the same…Phone: (415) 393-0707.
Give her HELL-but politely!
If you want to contact your representative, the most effective is a polite, single-issue handwritten letter. Next is a nice word processed one (again, single issue), then a phone call, and email basically counts for nothing unless it’s part of a huge organized campaign. A personal visit to the office counts for the absolute maximum, but that’s hard to do for most people.
There’s always a temptation to put multiple issues in your communication, but DON’T - it dilutes all of the issues, makes it harder for the legislative aides to process, and generally is a waste of time. Bear in mind that the people actually reading your letter will be 20-25 year old overachievers on internships or first jobs, and they do all the filtering before the senior staff get to see anything, let alone the Senator or Representative. The junior staff really, really care about their jobs and tend to be patriotic and idealistic - don’t be afraid to play to those ideals. If you are able to honestly say that you have contributed to the Sen/Rep’s election fund, so much the better.
I was revolted as we watched the votes on C-SPAN. My only hope is to work on the ‘08 elections and make the Dems get it right this time. But I’m really disgusted right now.
Opponax @2
If you’re thinking of heading to Australia, head to the west coast. We’re in the middle of a mining boom, and a serious skills shortage, so anything you can do (even waiting tables or working retail… actually, particularly waiting tables or working retail) is probably available. The wages and conditions here are pretty good compared to the US (while we do have workplace agreements, there are certain basic standards which can’t be contravened and we don’t have the whole “right to work” thing happening… yet).
While we don’t have the same set of rights and freedoms as folks in the US (we don’t have the right to freedom of speech, for example) we do have a much more casual and far less neurotic culture overall. We also have a socialised medical system which provides decent coverage for the majority of our citizens (which is supplemented by private health cover for those who can afford it) as well as a very good social security system which at least ensures that very few people are starving in the streets. If you’re pale-skinned and able to speak reasonable English, you’ll probably fit in beautifully. I think the biggest problems for USAliens would be grokking cricket and footy (either rugby league, rugby union, or Australian Rules, as appropriate for location) rather than baseball and American football.
Oh, and even the most conservative Australians are at least as small-l liberal as the US Democrats.
That’s it. It’s either Democrats 2008 or Perth by 2009.
One of my dearest pals taught at a university in Perth for years; came back to the States but stil goes back every year. Luved Oz…
How long before we find out this isn’t limited to “foreign” calls?
When will we find out they are spying on political opponents?
When do we learn their spying on companies that contribute to Democrats and giving the information to Reichwing-friendly businesses?
When do we finish throwing out the rest of the Constitution and just go ahead an impose martial law?
Curfews? Travel papers? Inspection points?
When will we be subject to arrest for viewing and/or posting on “subversive left-wing blogs”?
Is what we are becoming more like Orwell, Kafka, or Huxley - or is it more like some demonic combination of 24, Demolition Man, “Judge Dredd”, Resident Evil, and Aeon Flux?…
who else gets cold chills when you hear them talk about “The Homeland”?
MikeEss @ 5:24
We already know they’ve used this domestically, politically and applied for partisan gain during the ‘02 mid terms, where a RNC worker / aide got nabbed and charged. The President of the Republicans in the Republican Palace was, of course, kept from the shocking, shocking developments by loyalists.
I’m all for supporting everyone who is determined to uphold the constitution in the face of this atrocity. That SHOULD be the foremost responsibility too of any person elected to or working within govt to expose this latest horrific abuse of office and power.
This should be every single Dem but, alas, it’s not. (Here’s LeftCoaster’s list of Dem turncoats of the 16 Senate and 24 House Democratic Sell-Outs.)
These Rebug-Lites stupidly think that supporting the Repugs means D’Aristocrats will get the keys to the Republican Palace in ‘08 after Liberals like myself storm the place. Sorry: if I’m not guaranteed a return to a constitutional democracy in ‘08, these douchebags can storm their own damn palace and tore their own damn shit.
Here’s the list of D and R Congresspersons voting in favor of FISA. Maybe someone else could find and up up a link to the fine senators voting for this unamerican legislation?
voyeurs
Ellie beat me to the punch. Ah well…
well, no surprise my slimy little republican representative went against my beliefs again, jerry weller, you sir, can suck it.
but, every time something like this happens i barely even worry about my senators, living in illinois means i have obama and durbin, and they both, as senators, tend to vote the way i would want them to. (i still dont kno how i feel about obama as president tho…)
and the rest of those democrats, well, i hope their constituents flood then with so many calls they cant even sleep at night from their consciences eating away at them. the republicans too, but thats my standard wish.
Deep6 @ 6:23
I’m just still so very pissed off about this I thought it best to keep the boxing gloves close, if not on all the time. (Girl’s gotta eat.)
At the risk of invoking Godwin’s Law, it’s interesting to look at the grant given to Hitler immediately after the burning of the Reichstag. It is quite similar to the PATRIOT act plus FISA bill and other provisions. Mostly the same powers granted for the same reasons. (National emergency, security, etc)
“When will we find out they are spying on political opponents?”
Ah, good ole Tricky Dick… whoops, wrong era.