Deep Something

Deconstructing the Various Domestic Spying Lies

January 29, 2006September 29, 2018 B. John 199 Views

Just over a week ago, the White House promised to provide the legal, constitutional and moral justifications for the sort of warrantless spying on Americans that has been illegal for nearly 30 years. Instead, we got the familiar mix of political spin, clumsy historical misinformation, contemptuous dismissals of civil liberties concerns, cynical attempts to paint dissents as anti-American and pro-terrorist, and a couple of big, dangerous lies.

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Bush Renominates Judge Previously Blocked

January 26, 2006September 29, 2018 B. John 170 Views

The White House “flexed its judicial muscles yesterday,” renominating Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit even as the Senate nears a vote on its divisive Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito. Kavanaugh, the White House staff secretary, was first nominated in July 2003, but his nomination failed as part of a deal struck by the “Gang of 14” moderate senators.

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The Republic In It's Last Throes

January 26, 2006September 29, 2018 B. John 147 Views

The confirmation of Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court is all but completed. The addition of the Big-Brother-government-and-corporate-friendly Alito to replace a relatively moderate O’Connor is going to result in a more authoritarian society in which a few dictate to the majority what the rules will be. The American Republic is in its final days. Bin Laden won…or was it just the Bush Cabal taking over for good?

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Bush Was Against Expanding FISA Before He Was For It

January 26, 2006September 29, 2018 B. John 146 Views

The Bush Administration opposed legislation that would have given them the very power they now claim they needed, power they now claim they didn’t have under FISA. It’s because they didn’t have this power, they now claim, that they had to break the law and spy without a warrant. But this law would have given them much of the legal power they wanted. Yet they said they didn’t need it, and worse yet, that the proposed legislation was likely unconstitutional.

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National Intelligence Officials Does Not Know The Constitution

January 24, 2006September 29, 2018 B. John 115 Views

The former head of the National Security Agency and the current principal deputy of National Intelligence, Michael Hayden, yesterday revealed a fundamental misunderstanding of the 4th Amendment.

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Bush's Ever Growing Crop of Domestic Spying Excuses

January 23, 2006September 29, 2018 B. John 94 Views

The line of excuses/justifications being offered by the Administration is interesting. First, the President is saying that FISA is being followed, and warrants are being obtained. This is available on tape, and are statements made to an audience.

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My Review of 2005 and My Prayer for 2006

December 30, 2005September 29, 2018 B. John 203 Views

We human beings have created this concept of time. We like to have beginnings and endings, and we American’s seem especially prone to the shorter increments of time. We celebrate almost all of our important holidays annually. We acknowledge birthdays and anniversaries every year. We note seconds (nano-seconds sometimes), hours, days, the months, the annual cycle of the seasons, and especially the years. It?s pretty traditional, as the we close one calendar and open another, to evaluate the year just past, and contemplate the year to come. So as 2005 fades, I?ll follow tradition and offer up my review of 2005.

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Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

December 29, 2005September 29, 2018 B. John 160 Views

As the old saying goes, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” There is no clearer example of this than the Bu$h Administration’s lack of concern for laws and the Constitution. We have seen, over and over again, in the past how government agencies, authorized to snoop, always overstep. Now we begin to learn that the NSA has been spying on its own people, journalists, and even Congressmen. So, it’s no wonder Bu$h gets his way, Karly Rove probably has a dossier on most members of Congress and the Government.

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Another Warm Fuzzy From The NSA

December 29, 2005September 29, 2018 B. John 163 Views

According to an Associated Press report the National Security Agency’s Internet site has been placing files on visitors’ computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most of them.

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Republican Speeches on Impeachment

December 28, 2005September 29, 2018 B. John 147 Views

Let’s see of these Republicans trot out the same speeches in light of Bu$h’s recent admission that he unconstitutionally had the NSA monitor Americans.

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NSA Director Says Retroactive Warrants Not Sought Because They Required Paperwork

December 21, 2005September 29, 2018 B. John 181 Views

“The whole key here is agility,” he said at a White House briefing before Bush’s news conference. According to Hayden, most warrantless surveillance conducted under Bush’s authorization lasts just days or weeks, and requires only the approval of a shift supervisor. Hayden said getting retroactive court approval is inefficient because it “involves marshaling arguments” and “looping paperwork around.”