Bush spybill deadlock
p2pnet news | Freedom:- House speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to schedule a vote on a surveillance measure approved by the Senate on Tuesday.
Now, if the temporary law making it easier for the Bush administration to spy on foreign calls and emails passing through the US expires at midnight tomorrow,Bush and “top intelligence officials” say the consequences will be dire.
Al-Qaida, is “thinking about hurting the American people again,” according to Bush, and would be helped if US eavesdropping is hampered, says MyFox Memphis.
But, “Bush has all the authority he needs to intercept terrorist communications, even if the law expires,” Pelosi said Thursday,” the story states.
“Our intelligence professionals are working day and night to keep us safe, and they’re waiting to see whether Congress will give them the tools they need to succeed or tie their hands by failing to act,” Bush states, says the New York Times, going on
“The surveillance dispute centers on the Protect America Act, a temporary law expanding FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] that was approved over Democratic misgivings in August. It expanded the powers of the government to monitor the communications of foreign targets without warrants, including international phone calls and e-mails passing through or into the United States.”
Surveillance efforts won;t stop when the law lapses, says the story, adding:
” Administration intelligence officials said agencies would be able to continue eavesdropping on targets that have been approved for a year after the initial authorization. But they said any new targets would have to go through the more burdensome standards in place before August, which would require that they establish probable cause that an international target is connected to a terrorist group.
Says Ann Woolner in a Bloomberg News OpEd:
“President George W. Bush has a way of plunging the country into legally treacherous water, insisting it is perfectly safe to swim, then demanding a life jacket.
“And you better toss him a preserver with the precise dimensions he specifies, or he’ll accuse you of putting the whole country at risk.”
She concludes:
“Intelligence surveillance is a serious matter, indeed, and so is obedience to the law. Bush and the telecoms got themselves knee deep in muddy water when they ignored the law and spied on who knows how many Americans who were talking or e-mailing someone overseas from the presumed privacy of their own homes, cars or offices.
“About 40 lawsuits are pending around the country seeking damages for this spying. Why shouldn’t they proceed like any other lawsuit?
“Why not let the judges and juries apply the law to the facts? Bush and his swimming partners invited it when they waded in where they shouldn’t have.”
Also See:
MyFox Memphis – Bush, Congress In Spy Bill Standoff, February 15, 2007
New York Times – House fails to renew surveillance measure, February 15, 2007
Bloomberg News – House Calls Bush’s Bluff, Denying Him Life Jacket, February 15, 2007
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February 15th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Bush has been used to having it his own way. Every time it don’t go that way, then the terrorists are winning. Far as I am concerned, the terrorists have already won if you mark how we live as a standard yardstick and then compare a before and after by privacy and personal rights. Our way of life in what is our personal business has been turned upside down.
Bush set the stage for the showdown with the “no immunity” will equal a veto of any bill. So they haven’t bothered to send him something that will be vetoed. He shouldn’t have a problem with that. (but of course you know he does) Breaking the law and seeking immunity after is only because of the fanatical cover up and hiding of records this administration wants to do constantly. I can only believe that there is some serious law breaking going on to want to have all these public records declared security concerns to keep them from being reviewed. Right down to the visitors logs that have always been public before.
It smells of coverup, whether it is or not. Since the Telcos are wrapped up in “national security” no talks, the courts appear to be the only way for the public to find out actually what is going on. Granting immunity will in essence make it impossible to ever find out how far the government has gone in invading privacy since all records are sealed from the government end. So I very much agree with the no immunity until the bottom of the barrel has been viewed. Even then no immunity as at least one Telco knew enough to say “that’s illegal” and refuse to co-operate. So as a citizen I am interested in just how far this has gone, why what they are doing is illegal, and to what extent.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
The US government was founded on the principle of having checks and balances so that no one branch can take control or overstep its bounds. Since taking office, the Bush administration has been doing everything it can to upset that balance and grant the executive branch any and all authority it wants, without any meaningful oversight.
There’s one incident, reported in the media, that shows just how little regard Bush has for the law; When told that some of the provisions of the Patriot Act might violate the Constitution, Bush is reported to have screamed, “Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, it’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”
February 15th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
As a US citizen I can say that the terrorists have already won because of Bush being president. Its a “if they’re doing it, its terrorism and if I’m doing it, its patriotism” situation. Please make him take his “commander in chief” position seriously and ship him to the front lines in afganistan already.