Every Move You Make, Every Step You Take
July 13th, 2008, 8:29 PM EDT
The most sweeping of the Bush’s secret surveillance capabilities are left intact in the new domestic spying bill, according to Newsweek. Requests kept mounting after 9/11, often for information two or three parties removed from the original targets, with no court oversight. Wire transfers, bank transactions, emails, phone calls, and who knows what else are subject to government intrusion.,
“This affects far more people-and has a lot more risk of sweeping in innocent contacts-than the actual interception of phone calls,” says Jim Dempsey, vice president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a privacy group. “It’s bizarre that this has not been discussed more.”
from the Newsweek article cited above:
After 9/11, the White House asked MCI (now Verizon), AT&T, Sprint and Qwest for help obtaining call records on U.S. numbers found in laptops and cell phones captured in Qaeda hideouts. Normally such data is easy to come by for law enforcement, but in the post-9/11 world, the premium was on speed. So the White House bypassed the established legal protocols. Qwest balked, but the other three carriers went along—because, as one industry official put it, “nobody wanted to be responsible for the next terrorist attack.”
This kind of “spying” cited above, if you can really call it that, is 100% okay with me.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I spy my pot patch getting raided!!
Damn spies!
July 14th, 2008 at 12:52 am
dave~ i’m sure that your pot patch in the middle of nowhere kentucky is safe. lol, man. chill.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Sure it’s safe, until the feds Google “pot” and this page comes up, and they send an NSL to whoever owns the server this page resides on, and they trace you to your ISP, and send another NSL, and get your account information, and street address, and forward your file to the local DEA office.
The problem with this kind of “spying” is that it does not stop at people who have al Qaeda on their speeddial.
Consider the Terrorist Watch List. As of October 2007 it weighed in at 755,000 names and has been growing by 200,000 names every year since 2004.
See: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-23-Watchlist_N.htm
So how do names get on the list? Here’s what the FBI says:
“Per HSPD-6, only individuals who are known or appropriately suspected to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism are included in the TSDB.”
See: http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/counterrorism/faqs.htm#FAQ6
Known or appropriately suspected. It’s not a question of proof. It’s enough that someone in the government “knows.” It’s enough that they “suspect” you.
So what do they base their suspicions on? Well, if they catch you with a bomb they’d put you in jail. If they gather enough proof to put you on trial they’re not going to leave you walking the streets.
Let’s take a closer look at what they’re saying. “Per HSPD-6, only individuals who are … suspected to be … engaged in conduct … related to terrorism are included in the TSDB.”
So what’s “related” to terrorism? Could posting on this blog in opposition to government policies be construed as giving aid and comfort to the terrorists? I’ve heard callers to the show say that criticizing the government in any way should be construed as treason. Is that an extreme view? Do you suppose that no one in government could ever take such a view?
You know who Dick Cheney is, right?
July 14th, 2008 at 3:04 am
The damage has been done. The law is required to keep secret what has happened. No victim, no crime. Find the Bush Fly and this whole story unwravels for history to determine what was right, wrong, and treason. The truth always comes out.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:11 am
Forget this nonsense about ‘If you have nothing to hide….’
“If the GOVERNMENT has nothing to hide, why is it hiding everything?”
Words from Lt. Col. Bob Bowman,
July 14th, 2008 at 10:05 am
“Forget this nonsense about ‘If you have nothing to hide…’”
Exactly. Because no one knows if you’re hiding something. And they’ll never know unless they stick a camera on your head and record everything you say and do twenty-four hours a day.
Which means your guilt or innocence is open to “interpretation.”
July 14th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Re; the old , “If you have nothing to hide…”
The problem is that the government gets to decide what is ’something to hide’.
What if speaking against the policies of Dear leader, or donating to the wrong political parties becomes ’something to hide’?
July 14th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
“What if speaking against the policies of Dear leader, or donating to the wrong political parties becomes ’something to hide’?”
It probably already is.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
“The name of the Justice Department’s former top criminal prosecutor turned up on the government’s terror watch list.”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-07-14-justice-terror-list_N.htm
But I’m not worried, because I got nothing to hide!
July 14th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Move on folks, nothing to see here.
If it wasn’t good for the country, the democrats wouldn’t have agreed to it. After all, we all know the democrats only goal is what is good for the country.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Where I worked everything was recorded. Computer key strokes, phone calls and breathing included. The minimum amount of time people worked a shift was 10 hours. In those 10 hours, if one was looking, you’d be surprised how much could be found to be used against you. I agree we need a VERSION of FISA, which I believe we had until FISA. But we need checks and balances and a search warrant should be obtained first.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
OldLefty can’t seem to decide which side of the fence to sit on. One minute he’s for government and against it the next. This guy believes the Constitution was written to protect the government, and the Bill of Rights includes rights of citizens of other nations. The guy’s a total loon.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:37 pm