The administration’s desire to spy on any foreigner it decides is a threat (at least they still require a warrant) may make people feel comfortable, but will have repercussions far beyond the obvious ramifications. (If you have any foreign friends, don’t call them on the phone and ask them to come to your place for some Bud unless it comes from Anheuser Busch.)
The Bush administration asked Congress Friday to allow monitoring of more foreigners in the United States during intelligence investigations. The plan is one of several proposed changes, which have been in the works for more than a year, that go to the heart of a key U.S. surveillance law.
The administration wants to be able to monitor foreign nationals on American soil if they are thought to have significant intelligence information, but no known links to a foreign power. Under current law, the government must convince a FISA judge that an individual is an agent of a government, terror group or some other foreign adversary.
One interesting aspect of the proposal:
Give telecommunications companies immunity from civil liability for their cooperation with any intelligence communications program, such as Bush’s terrorist surveillance program. Pending lawsuits against companies including Verizon and AT&T allege they violated privacy laws by giving phone records to the NSA for the program.
Do you think we should trust this administration with increased surveillance powers?
Do you think we should trust this administration with increased surveillance powers?
I don’t trust them with the powers they have now.
Maybe a better question would be should any administration be trusted with increased surveillance powers? I’m against any increase in spying activity because administrations change and the idea of another Clinton coming into power with increased spying authority bothers the hell out of me. (Think of the political leverage Hillary Clinton would have under such expanded authority! http://www.judicialwatch.org/filegate.shtml )
#2, Ze,
Scary thought, isn’t it?
Ha
Ha ha
hahahahahaha
All the Republicans must be pooping their pants over that one.
Everyone wants special powers for themselves.
Here comes the ‘Star Chamber’. Good Grief, Charlie Brown !!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086356/plotsummary
I think EVERYONE in this country should just start acting suspicious on purpose. Call that foreign friend and invite him over for a Bud. Start taking photographs of public buildings. Put cryptic messages in your email and overwhelm the system. make a dictator act like a dictator. Flood the radar, quit hiding under the desk.
Peaceful civil disobedience, of a sort.
Do you think we should trust this administration with increased surveillance powers? We shouldn’t trust any administration with unconstitutional powers.
7, mark, please never mess with the Feds, they have more money and determination than anyone, with the possible exception of Bill Wastes. And they even got him once.
Just my (knowledgeable) 2 cents (2 new gold dollars) worth….
Ooops. Meant #6, mark in previous post–
Comment by mark — 4/13/2007 @ 4:49 pm
Even if he gets it he will F&$k it up.
8. Bubba, when did you become a wimp? Believe it or not, I used to be a Fed. Bunch of idiots.
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/
11, mark, when I had to spend $150K to defend myself against false allegations, and won (or lost, as it were). The accuser went to the pen. Want to reimburse me for being a wimp? Sorry, I’m just Fed up. And the ignorant SAC was reassigned to drug investigations in El Paso, bwahahahahaha,
Reiterating, don’t mess with the Feds, they can make 2 years of an innocent (or naive) person’s life a living hell. Let me know next time you’re in a black SUV wearing the cuffs.
And, yes, some of them are complete morons.
What a boon to business and tourism this will be. (rolls eyes).
It’s going to take a lot of years to repair the damage being done to your country guys, better wake up fast. On a purely selfish note, if only to stop the moronic copycats that are starting to pop up in this country and even more baffling getting elected.
Actually not too baffling when you consider the moral turpitude of today polititions.
#1 – Improbus,
I didn’t even trust them with the power they had when they entered office.
#7 – nonStatist
Excellent point. Please also add that they don’t get to modify the constitution to make the PATRIOT act constitutional.
#3 – Oh hell ya.. it’s scary. And you know what’s even scarier Fusion? Betty Currie, Dolly Kyle Browning, Kathleen Wiley and Paula Jones were 4 loyal Democrats I could pick off the top of my head who pissed off the Clintons. Obama could be added to that list if he gave Hillary too much trouble. I’m sure the Clintons have an enemies list with scores to settle and they prolly don’t all have an (R) behind the names. It’s the thin edge of the wedge that we all need to worry about.
–>I WANT FREEDOM!
12. Bubba, really, I was just tweaking you. I too had a little run in with the IRS. These guys scare me the most, I’ll take 10 DEA agents over one IRS agent. Yeah, it costs me big time too. My experience as a CG boarding officer in the mid to late 70’s (the Carter push on the drug war) was with DEA and Customs. For the most part a bunch of overzealous kids with way too much power given to them (and myself). Although I never took any of it too seriously, they DID.
Foreign nationals should be subject to monitoring without warrant for any reason. I’m pretty sure that’s the case now. How else did the FBI conduct all those interviews of students after 9/11? Also, they all get fingerprinted without any reasonable suspicion, much less probable cause.
Maybe administrations change and pols should know better than to hand powers to the next guy in office. But that’s not the real threat to freedom.
I remind you that the old patriot queen J. Edgar Hoover outlasted most of the presidents of the 20th century, by amassing files on pretty much everybody. Kennedy couldn’t fire him (and he had the assassination limo flown to Detroit and melted down before forensics experts could go over it, so so I’ve read). Lyndon Johnson famously said it was better to have Hoover inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.
And now we have Dept. of Homeland Insecurity. Dubya, Bubba, Hillary, Osama, or my personal favorite Bill Richardson – it won’t matter. The really pernicious power resides in the enforcement bureaucracies. Hoover set that up best, but his, um, spiritual heirs have learned well. And now it’s all computerized.
Forget the politicians. it’s the empire-building bureaucrats we should all be scared to death to hand that kind of power to.