Bush sued by ACLU, CCR
p2p news / p2pnet: President George W. Bush and the National Security Agency are being sued to stop them from secretly spying on US citizens.
Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice recently said Bush, “decided to skirt the normal process of obtaining court-approved search warrants for the surveillance because it was too cumbersome for fast-paced counterterrorism investigations,” according to the New York Times.
Behind the lawsuits are the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).
“President Bush may believe he can authorize spying on Americans without judicial or congressional approval, but this program is illegal and we intend to put a stop to it,” the Detroit Free Press has ACLU executive director Anthony Romero saying .
“The current surveillance of Americans is a chilling assertion of presidential power that has not been seen since the days of Richard Nixon.”
The Cheney/Bush administration claims the spy program is a vital part of America’s war against terrorists.
The CCR says it’s likely, “privileged phone and E-mail conversations conducted by staff attorneys have already been intercepted by the eavesdropping program,” says the New York Daily News.
lso See:
New York Times – Rice Defends Domestic Eavesdropping, December 19, 2005
Detroit Free Press – Suits filed to stop spying, January 18, 2006
New York Daily News – Gitmo group sues to zap Bush bugs, January 18, 2006
January 18th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Like Sean Hannity of foxnews would say ” oh please Mr. Terro – rist we don’t want to violate your rights and invade your privacy by wiretapping your telephones so you can plot and conspire to kill americans.”
Like Ann coulter and Rush Limbaugh and Mike Reagan would say;
“The ACLU :what a bunch of left wing wackos and kooks and bleeding heart leftist wingnuts.”
The pinko left don’t have a clue.
The United States is at war with a bunch of islamo facist diaperheads intent in killing all americans.
IT WILL BE ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL ALL OUT WAR BREAKS OUT INTHE THE MIDDLE EAST ANY OLD WAY.
January 18th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
l love that photo of our fine upstanding republican president showing his visual rightous indignation of the pinko leftist wingnut democrapic party.
It speaks volumes.
What’s George Bush have that Richard Nixon did not have ?
Richard nixon had class and so does George Bush.
War mongering is a growth business nowdays……………………
GIVE THEM HELL GEORGE…………………….
January 18th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
I-Feel-Like-I�m-Fixin�-to-Die Rag
(Vietnam Rag)
Words and Music by Joe McDonald
Play the song in a happy care-free style and feel free to substitute the name of any country where you feel there is a war going on you would like to sing about. Do not interpret the song word for word. It is military humor � tongue in cheek.
1:
D
Come on all of you big strong men,
G
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
D
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
G
Way down yonder in Vietnam
E7 A
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
D G
We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun.
Chorus:
A7 A#7 D
And it’s one, two, three,
D7 G
What are we fighting for?
D
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
G
Next stop is Vietnam;
A7 A#7 D
And it’s five, six, seven,
D7 G
Open up the pearly gates,
E A
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
D G
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.
2:
D
Come on generals, let’s move fast;
G
Your big chance has come at last.
D
Gotta go out and get those reds �
G
The only good commie is the one that’s dead
E7 A
You know that peace can only be won
D G
When we’ve blown ‘em all to kingdom come.
[Chorus]
3:
D
Come on Wall Street, don’t move slow,
G
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
D
There’s plenty good money to be made
G
Supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
E7 A
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
D G
They drop it on the Viet Cong.
[Chorus]
4:
D
Come on mothers throughout the land,
G
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
D
Come on fathers, don’t hesitate,
G
Send your sons off before it’s too late.
E7 A
You can be the first one on your block
D G
To have your boy come home in a box.
[Chorus]
Note: As I have mentioned elsewhere I am guilty of leaving out the women in my early material so now I always sing the last verse like this:
Come on mothers throughout the land / And pack your boys off to Vietnam / Come on fathers, don’t hesitate / and send your DAUGHTERS off before it’s too late / And be the first one on your block to have your KIDS come home in a box.
January 18th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Cool……….I need to listen to that song, again!!
Mike
January 18th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
- Ben F.
All real Americans like Ben Franklin should be asking if King George was tapping only the phones of Americans suspected of terrorist ties…
why warrants were not asked for.
The ACLU is ALL about Liberty. It is always fighting for Liberty in the courts in defense of the little guy. If you disagree with the ACLU it’s probably because Liberty is not that important to you or is only important when it is about YOU.
January 18th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death
Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775.
and who threateb his Liberty? The Government!
January 19th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
I’m a little confused. The things that made the communists so unpopular for so long–like how they didn’t respect religious diversity, personal privacy or human rights, failed due process and practiced torture–are exactly the things the Bush administration–and Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity–openly support.
If there’s an organization that supports freedom better than the ACLU in this country, perhaps the kill-the-commies contributors to p2pnet can enlighten me who–
January 20th, 2006 at 6:02 am
Maybe the threat was a KING BUSH…?
January 20th, 2006 at 6:07 am
George Bush IS a OIL grabing War mongering pig that spy on the American people for his relection?? This man should be inpeached as soon as he gets his head out of his ass!
January 20th, 2006 at 6:14 am
Mr.Preasedent did you spy on the voters? Is that why it was as close? Now that makes sence.
January 20th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Cheney Says Domestic Surveillance Vital
Friday, Jan. 20, 2006
NEW YORK — Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday defended the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance program, saying it is an essential tool in monitoring al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations.
But Cheney stressed that the program was limited and conducted in a way that safeguarded civil liberties.
“A spirit of debate is now under way, and our message to the American people is clear and straightforward: These actions are within the president’s authority and responsibility under the Constitution and laws, and these actions are vital to our security,” Cheney said at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.
Four Democrats, in a letter to the vice president, asked that the administration consult with all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees on the program. The administration so far has restricted notification to just eight lawmakers, according to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California and the top Democrats on the intelligence committees, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Rep. Jane Harman (news, bio, voting record) of California.
Cheney said the surveillance program had addressed a concern of the Sept. 11 commission that the government had difficulty linking the activities of domestic and international terrorists.
“It’s hard to think of any category of information that could be more important to the safety of the United States than international communication, one end of which we have reason to believe is related to al-Qaida,” Cheney said.
President Bush has acknowledged that beginning in October 2001 he authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on international phone calls and e-mails of people within the United States without seeking warrants from the courts.
The program has come under heavy criticism by congressional Democrats and civil libertarians and is now the focus of at least two federal lawsuits.
Cheney said Bush had reauthorized the program more than 30 times since 2001 and would continue to do so.
Also Thursday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sent congressional leaders a 42-page legal defense of warrantless eavesdropping, expanding on arguments that he and other administration officials have been making since the program was first disclosed last month.
The memo argues that Bush has authority to order the warrantless wiretapping under the Constitution and the post-Sept. 11 congressional resolution granting him broad power to fight terrorism.
Gonzales said the analysis was needed to counter critics of the program and show the public that “there’s another side to this debate.”
Cheney did not directly address an audio tape aired Thursday by Al-Jazeera in which a voice, determined by the CIA to be that of Osama bin Laden, said al-Qaida planned further attacks on the United States. But he said it was “more than obvious” the nation faced continued terrorist threats.
“The enemy that struck on 9/11 is weakened, fractured, but still lethal and still determined to hit us again,” he said. “Either we are serious about fighting this war on terror or we are not.”
2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.