Probable Cause II

(click here to view)

First, in answer to the "Case for Telecom Immunity," specifically: "2. Beyond the theoretical case for the warrantless program’s legality, the telecoms here specifically relied on written representations from the administration that the program had been reviewed by the president and determined to be legal." The question of the legality of this program is anything but theoretical, and the argument so often so cleverly invoked to defend this insidious assault on the very freedoms that Bush notionally seeks to defend.

Addressing the National Association of Attorney Generals, the debate surrounding the FISA renewal and telecom immunity was Bush's primary topic. In a case of misrepresentation, W says the target of the whole program of the big bad jihadis sitting in the mountains of Afghanistan, dialing their favorite operatives in Anywhere, Homeland. I would imagine being so far away from home, in a land where no one can speak their language, they would be pretty homesick.

However, evidence has emerged that the real target of this program may really be the e-mails. Which, makes me want to breath a sigh of relief, given the Bush Administration's track record of handling e-mail. It's not that the NSA, by means of this warrantless wiretapping program, invaded your privacy and cracked open a Pandora's box where probable cause and the very slim margin of institutional procedure that keep Americans from having to fear what goes bump in the night, but they probably wouldn't know how to manage it.

And if you were wondering how probable cause died, and if it will make a sound? I would say probably not. Our newest candidate for the vaunted 'Republicrat' status, Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes said that he hopes to bring the matter to a vote within a week. Also of interest, is the point that the House has seen and reviewed documents in relation to this matter, and they're "pretty much finished." So, what was in those documents? Or, were they mostly redacted? Some of the potential deals that are in discussion would continue to leave this entire matter beneath the lock and key of classification, away from the prying eyes of the interested or not public. The Senate version of the bill that has already been passed allows the Attorney General to wave his magic pen and pronounce everything legal and dismiss any and all related lawsuits.

For extra flavoring, try the aforementioned NPR coverage, now with audible delight. Or Senator Feingold issuing a public service warning about the already-passed Senate version.




Some editorialization from the Young Turks. Yes, the Democrats do suck.



And if you haven't seen Bush enough today, here he is addressing the National Association of Attorney Generals. And no matter how many times Bush said that his government told these telecommunications companies that the program that they were requested to participate in was legal, it clearly wasn't and every instance of him saying that the government said this program was legal before it saw the light of day could be used as evidence against him.

The Walk of Shame

The old media continues to refer to this story in the terms most favorible to the Bush administration. I (and some former intellegence experts) want to point out some misconceptions that seem to be floating around. First, FISA already gives the president authority to listen to the phone conversations of any terrorism suspect. Its a legal, judge approved warrant, and the backlog is a myth. Second, if the warrentless wiretapping provision expires tomorrow, the wiretapps that are already in place under that law, get to stay in place for up to a year.

If President Bush already has everything he says he needs to protect us then what is in this bill he isn't talking about, and why would he want it passed? At the very least what Bush, the cowards in the Senate, and the business community want is a policy statement that it OK for a company to break the law and violate the rights of innocent American citizens as long as someone in the government asks. I may have misunderstood but I thought the reason Fred Thompson wanted Nixon impeached was because Nixon thought the President was above the law.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is no curse loud or profane enough to hurl at the senators who voted to give immunity to the telecom industry. All this does is encourage companies to break the law whenever the government asks them to. It makes the rule of law waivable at the whim of the president. If the alagations against the telecom companies are true, then we all have been harmed. Even law abiding people have secrets that should be kept and respected. Even criminals deserve privacy. Privacy is a human right that is not granted by governments or agencys, we are imbued with that right by our creator and the purpose of government is to protect our rights.

The Democrats roll over, fail to understand why they won last election, and approval ratings continue to fall.

Walk of Shame

As much of a dickhead as Bill Maher is occasionally, he sums up this year's biggest douchbags that should be filled with shame and remorse but are even more worthy of hate because they aren't asshamed.



X

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MEDIA_OWNERSHIP?SITE=RIPAW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

There is already too much media consolidation resulting in poor news coverage. There is too much group think among media sources when important stories get ignored because CNN is covering a skiing squirrel or cat fashion show. Or for that matter a human fashion show. You're fucking CNN for fuck's sake! The group think has almost completely ignored the candidacy of viable candidates like Ron Paul.

The old media fucked up big time in the run up to the war in Iraq and during the 2000 presidential election. If they want trust and respect back they better start fucking earning it with real hard hitting investigative journalism, instead of the kind of fluff that bloggers can fill the world with. They like to assume they are more ligitimate than us but I say the burden of proof is on them now. And that burden is one of the preponderance of evidence.

For entertainment purposes I am not so sure media consolidation is that bad. I may be confusing correlation with causation but market saturation and a vast empire seems to have given those like Ted Turner and Disney the freedom to create specialised networks for a narrow audience that would sink a network like NBC who has to stick with bland "entertainment" that appeals to noone but at least doesn't offend most. The increased venues for creativity may also simply be a result of the managment style of the Turner corporation.

The Scent of Rage

According to the principal deputy director of intelligence, Donald Kerr, the American people need to reconsider what they consider to be known as "privacy." This, of course, follows in the wake of the revelation of AT&T's involvement in the terrorist surveillance program. This week is the week to pressure your Senator, especially if they are on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Of course, he is an appointed official who has to worry about his superiors above in producing quotes. Otherwise, he might have said something rational. Stranger things have happened.

Another Big Fuckin Suprise

This is one of those things that is actually news of the situation being worse than previously known. However, noone will take any notice because everyone already assumed it was this bad. Basically, ATT was tapping EVERY FUCKING CALL, EMAIL, OR BIT OF INFORMATION you transmited over their lines.

Thats really fucking important!

The question being tossed around in the courts and the legislature is weather the government can tap calls involving foreigners because its pretty fucking clear that tapping the calls of a US citizen is illegal. But thats exactly what they have been doing.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004001159_spying08.html?betterheadline

Big Suprise

So Comcast was billing the government for the surveilance of our calls. This means we were getting screwed twice by them. Once when they take our freedoms and rights away illegally. And again when they bill us for it. Remember, when the government fucks you in the asshole they are also robbing you for the privlege.

My e-mail to Sen. Herb Kohl

The text of my letter to Sen. Russ Feingold was different because he already has a statement on his webpage indicating his stance against immunity for the telecom industry. I encourage you all to write to your elected representatives and urge them to hold the collaborators accountable and vote against any imunity from civil action.

As a member of the Judicial committee I implore you to not include any provision in the domestic spying program to give the telecom industry immunity from prosecution. I ask you to hold them responsible for their actions in eroding the rights of the American people. If the White House will not give the committee the documents they require, I humbly suggest the committee not approve any program for domestic spying. The way I see it the administration doesn't really have a bargaining chip here. The Judicial Committee says to them "we need these documents to give you the program you want." And the administration replies by demanding the committee wright the legislation the way it wants or they wont release the documents you need. It sounds like the administration is putting the cart before the horse. I haven't really heard any arguments in support of immunity, which makes me nervous. It is as if everyone believes the immunity is a foregone conclusion. The only serious argument I have heard in favor of immunity from prosecution for the telecom collaborators is that; if sued, the companies may have to testify about issues of national security. Which may be a legitimate concern, how would one know unless one receives the information from the administration, but couldn't the portions of any civil trial involving matters of national security be made secret? One need not throw the baby out with the bath water and hold these wrongdoers immune from action.

CORRUPTION, FAILURE AND RAGE!

This is the first time congress has driven me to drink. I get the feeling it wont be the last, unless I stop caring about this country which is fuckin unlikely. These articles below treat this latest failure by the legislature and the Democrats as par for the course and really it is. Which is sad. Sad for us the American people. What I am so upset about is that the Democrats in the Senate Froeign Intelligence comitte have given the telecom industry immunity from prosecution for their participation in the illegal warrentless wiretapping program. In return they got from the Republicans the regulation that the Supreme Court required of them in the first place. So basically we lose because the Democrats still cant resist the same old tired arguments from the Republicans. They threatened to say the Democrats are week on terror and want to allow Bin Laden to hurt us poor defenceless people of the states. News flash for the Democrats, the Republicans will say that any and the argument is a red fucking herring.

This domestic spying program was going on before the attacks of 9/11. Think about that. That means this program did not protect us from Bin Laden. It existed and it did not contribute to our safety. That seriously impairs the likelihood that it will protect us from another attack in the future. Further, the Bush administration had all the information they needed to know about and prevent the attacks of 9/11. More information form huge piles of phone records will not make any of us safer.

Apart from that partisan piece of rhetoric, that I cant fucking believe continues to work, and that it does only goes to show how far out of touch the Democrats in Washington are, I have not heard any other arguments in favor of the domestic spying program. Hows that for a run-on sentence? So that means I have not heard any serious arguments in favor of the program. Even creationists put up more resistance.

General counsil for AT&fuckingT, Wayne Watts, argues that this is a dispute between the Legislative and Executive branch and so the telecom industry should be given immunity from prosecution for participating in an illegal activity at the request of the executive branch. The kind of argument that only a lawyer could appreciate. That doesnt make it a legitimate argument and the legal neuance should not cool your rage. Do you feel the rage?

The last point I want to make is that even if a branch of the government asks you to break the law, you are still breaking the fucking law.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.surveillance18oct18,0,4239460.story
http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?newsid=42051&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10&view=news

Telecommunication Problems

From another margin of business and industry, comes news of the Federal Universal Service Fund, which was designed to allow companies to build infrastructure in rural areas where it might not be otherwise profitable to do so. U.S. Cellular, in particular, has enjoyed the publication of two articles expressing concern about the move to limit the USF by the first of November, in Wisconsin and in Maine. According to one article, U.S. Cellular has spent almost $50 million since 2002 building towers in rural Wisconsin, yet the strength of their stock leaves much to be desired.

On a slightly unrelated note, the FCC has approved AT&T's petition to ignore some of the pricing and reporting regulations (and another) in a further attempt to coddle those companies that were supportive of certain programs. Programs, which it has been recently revealed, started well before their supposed start date sometime after 9/11. If this program is as illegal as it would appear, that would explain Mr. Bush's push for retroactive immunity for the compliant corporations. Also, an independent journalist has some interesting questions and pointed demands for Nancy Pelosi. It smells like COINTELPRO in here.

I'm in ur phonez stealin all ur rightz

Basically the phone companies gave all your calls and emails and internet activity to the government. The courts have said it was illegal. Now, in order to avoid being sued, basically by all of us, the telecom companies are asking the government for immunity from prosecution.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20884696/site/newsweek/page/0/

Wright your elected representatives at every level of government and tell them to hold these companies responsible. We may not be able to hold the old media responsible for failing in their duty to us in the run up to the Iraq war, and the Democrats are still too chickenshit to hold the administrations feet to the fire, but hopefully we can make the telecom companies pay for the greveous wrong they have done us. Ma-bell folding under the pressure from a huge law suit is a small price to pay for freedom. Some people have to pay for our freedom with their lives.