The Office and the Man

[TheMercenary]

Federal Intelligence Court Rules Warrantless Wiretapping Legal: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review has ordered the release of a redacted opinion. The federal intelligence court ruled in August, 2008 that warrantless wiretapping of international phone calls and the interception of e-mail messages were permissible. Giving support to the Protect America Act, the Court found that "foreign intelligence surveillance possesses characteristics that qualify" for an exception in the interest of "national security". For more information, see EPIC's page on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. (Jan. 15, 2009)

[TheMercenary]

At least some organization is paying attention. Maybe they can get Obama to uphold his campaign promise. I doubt it.

Senators Consider PATRIOT Act Reforms: Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) are drafting legislative reforms to revise the USA PATRIOT Act. The USA PATRIOT Act allows authorities to conduct surveillance without judicial review through the use of National Security Letters. The Senators asked the Attorney General and the Chairmen of the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committee to consider two previous bills that add protections to PATRIOT ACT. Pursuant to a EPIC lawsuit, a federal judge had ordered the Justice Department to provide for independent judicial inspection of documents relating to warrantless wiretapping. For more information, see EPIC USA PATRIOT Act, EPIC FISA, EPIC Wiretapping, and EPIC National Security Letters. (Aug. 7, 2009)

http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/fisa/default.html

I give up.

I accept that you dont see the difference between acting with FISA Court approval as opposed to circumventing the FISA Court and with regular reporting by the AG to Congress (at least every six months) as opposed to keeping it secret from Congress.

[TheMercenary]

Warrantless wiretaps continue under Obama. He has done nothing to change that.

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Warrantless wiretaps continue under Obama. He has done nothing to change that.

Repeat.

I accept that you dont see the difference between acting with FISA Court approval as opposed to circumventing the FISA Court and with regular reporting by the AG to Congress (at least every six months) as opposed to keeping it secret from Congress.

Can you hear me now?

[TheMercenary]

Repeat: Warrantless wiretaps continue under Obama. He has done nothing to change that. It is not just FISA. It is also the provisions of PA2 approved by the Dems in Congress. Pot meet Kettle.

[TheMercenary]

Obama: No warrantless wiretaps if you elect me

"My job this morning is to be so persuasive...that a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany, and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Barack," (A Vote for God ) he told a crowd of about 300 Ivy Leaguers--and, by the looks of it, a handful of locals who managed to gain access to what was supposed to be a students-only event.

For one thing, under an Obama presidency, Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and "wiretaps without warrants," he said.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9845595-7.html

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

...It is also the provisions of PA2 approved by the Dems in Congress. Pot meet Kettle.

In fact, PA2 was enacted in 2006 when the Republicans still controlled Congress and a majority of Democrats in the House voted against it (66 Yea, 124 Nay). The Senate Democrats were not so opposed.

In both the House and the Senate, a majority of Democrats opposed the bi-partisan 2008 FISA amendments. (Senate Dems: 22 yea, 27 nay, House Dems: 105 yea, 128 nay)

In fact, if Pelsoi had maintained the House rules of her predecessor, it would never had passed, because it did not have the support of the "majority of the majority."

[Griff]

So to answer your question Dana, we have no problem attacking the man in office as long as he isn't from our party. If he belongs to our party he's a symbol of national pride and must be defended as if a god among men and if he isn't of our party then god help him.

[DanaC]

*chuckles* thanks. It's been an interesting read.