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Hillary votes against FISA while Obama votes for it
I am so damn proud of Hillary. I can't tell you how happy I am.
Dear Obama supporters, if you are reading this, it is not to late. Hillary can still be our President!
News from the blogosphere
"This is too good. Having once promised to filibuster any FISA bill with telecom lawsuit protection that reached the Senate Floor, Barack Obama today voted in favor of the compromise FISA bill pushed by President Bush. The left-wing base of the party is beside itself, as expected, but there is another interesting wrinkle to this story.
Hillary voted no. Captain Ed raises the delicious question: is she setting herself up for a netroots push at the convention? Please let it be so! (from Jim-Rose)"
"Okay. The Obama folks won’t like the reaction that Obama’s hypocritical vote on telecom immunity will spawn. My prediction is that this will spawn a movement to put Hillary back on the ticket. Don’t think so? If you don’t think so you are underestimating the damage that Obama has done to his shiny new brand for “change.” This is not change it is just doing the same thing as the rest of the gutless and complicit Democratic leadership. Read the following article if you underestimate the damage that this vote has done to the country and perhaps Obama’s campaign. And my Obama friends, if you think “hypocritical” is too strong a word, read the actual record of the statements that our hero has made.
Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
I am so damn proud of Hillary. I can't tell you how happy I am. ... more -
Illegal wire tapping
Wire tapping is wrong... Impeach Bush and Cheney for these High Crimes
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SPOTLIGHT: Telco PACs Gave $8K to Dems Who Changed Their Vote on FISA Bill | MAPLi...
a nice analysis by Maplight.org indicating that those Democratic representatives who changed their vote on telecom immunity between March and June received on average 40% more in contributions from telecom interests than those Democrats who held firm. Maplight asks, "Why did these ninety-four House members have a change of heart? Their constituents deserve answers." Across both parties, representatives who voted for immunity in June had received almost twice a much telecom money as those who voted against. Wired's coverage includes a quote from Larry Lessig, who is on the Maplight board: "Money corrupts the process of reasoning. [Lawmakers] get a sixth sense of how what they do might affect how they raise money."
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/27/141024...
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/telecom-amnest... a nice analysis by Maplight.org indicating that those Democratic representatives who changed their vote on telecom immunity between Ma... more -
Disclosure of classified documents reveal total dismissal of U.S. Constitution
The American Civil Liberties Union has uncovered details pertaining to a secret Justice Department memo from October 2001 that reveals the Bush administration effectively suspended the Fourth Amendment where domestic counter terrorism operations are concerned.
The ACLU reports that the memo states the "Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations." after 9/11. In other words, the DOJ gave the White House a green light to effectively shelve Constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures in the wake of the terror attacks.
The memo was written by then deputy assistant attorney general John Yoo, also the co-author of the PATRIOT Act and author of the now notorious torture memos.
It is almost certain that Yoo's memo was written to provide a legal basis for the NSA, a military intelligence agency, to begin its warrantless wiretapping program, which was initiated in the same month.
Just days after the memo's delivery to the White House, Dick Cheney and other administration officials briefed four House and Senate leaders on the NSA's secret terrorist surveillance program for the first time.
The existence of the 2001 memo came to light via a newly declassified March 2003 document from the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) entitled Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States, which makes reference to the previous memo. The American Civil Liberties Union has uncovered details pertaining to a secret Justice Department memo from October 2001 that reveal... more -
Stand Up For Your Rights, Proof It Works: FBI Backs Off From Secret Order for Data...
In this Washington Post article they state that this is the third time the FBI backed off. I know they are trying to protect the USA and are probably under White House orders, but enough is enough! Why can't the FBI stand up for our rights as well? They're there to protect and serve. Not protect and serve madmen that believe the Constitution is "...only a piece of paper." (there may have been an expletive there in that quote from a high ranking person in the white house, I have not researched the authenticity of that!)
What I'm saying is that the US Government should not be trying to find every which way to remove and step all over our rights. The police, the FBI, the CIA all should have the guts to say: Enough is enough, we will not destroy the Constitution, so play by the rules or go to jail! In this Washington Post article they state that this is the third time the FBI backed off. I know they are trying to protect the USA ... more -
What a nascent police state sounds like | NPR
Skip to 34:45. Bob Ginsberg is a lawyer for one of the people in Guantanamo. The funny bit is how incompetent the tap is. :)
Bob Gensburg is a lawyer in rural Vermont who represents a Guantanamo detainee, Abdul Zahir. Bob says that as he started to build his case, strange things began happening: his wife picked up their home phone and overheard him talking, but Bob wasn't at home or on his cell phone - he was using the land line at work. Bob also says that his word processing folder, which archives his case for Mr. Zahir, has disappeared from his desktop several times. Bob has spoken with forensic detectives, and believes his phone is tapped and his work is being monitored because he's representing Mr. Zahir. Skip to 34:45. Bob Ginsberg is a lawyer for one of the people in Guantanamo. The funny bit is how incompetent the tap is. :) ... more -
Straw pressed on jail 'bugging'
Jack Straw is facing fresh demands to state which police officers authorised the alleged regular bugging of lawyer-client discussions in UK prisons. Jack Straw is facing fresh demands to state which police officers authorised the alleged regular bugging of lawyer-client discussions ... more
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US Has Become "Endemic Surveillance Society"
In a report released by Privacy International, a human rights group formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance and privacy invasions by governments and corporations, the United States has dropped from an "extensive surveillance society" to an "endemic surveillance society," joining the ranks of Singapore, China, Russia, the UK, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan. The report runs over 1,100 pages and includes 6,000 footnotes, with more than 200 experts from around the world providing materials and commentary. Among its findings, Privacy International notes that, in terms of statutory protections and privacy enforcement, the US is the worst ranking country in the democratic world. In terms of overall privacy protection the United States has performed very poorly, being out-ranked by both India and the Philippines. The highest-ranking countries in 2007 are Greece, Romania and Canada, though all three have only middle of the line rankings; on a scale of 1-5, no countries have a score above a 3. In a report released by Privacy International, a human rights group formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance and privacy invasions... more
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Landladies Bugged Student Flats
Now there are two kinds of bugs you definitely don't want in your flat: bedbugs (gross) and surveillance bugs (what?!?) Two Dublin landladies have to pay more than 100,000 for bugging their student tenants' flats. When students became suspicious and complained they were quickly evicted. Now they're being compensated for this major invasion of privacy. As if it's not enough to be caught on CCTV all day long, they were being spied on at home? I'm going home to check my flat!! Now there are two kinds of bugs you definitely don't want in your flat: bedbugs (gross) and surveillance bugs (what?!?) Two Dublin lan... more
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Wire Tappin'!
Controversy unfolds in the oval office over Bush's domestic wire tapping...
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Democrats concede on warrantless surveillance
another expansion of power.
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A wiretapping bill to please both parties
The Bush Administration has been using the kidnapping of 3 American soldiers as justification for renewing and expanding a wiretapping provision that a court struck down. But the dems are requiring that the bill be reviewed again in 6 months to ensure it's not being abused. The Bush Administration has been using the kidnapping of 3 American soldiers as justification for renewing and expanding a wiretapping... more
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wire tapping
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wire tapping
