First they came for the Poor Man, but I was not a Poor Man…
This is starting to look very, very bad indeed.
We knew that the NSA was feeding intercepts to John Bolton (collected from 10,000 US citizens), and recently we also learned that the NSA has been conducting thousands of warrantless wiretaps, which could easily have been obtained legally. Something’s starting to smell a bit like an enemies list.
Another question this raises is whether any super-secret Patriot Act detentions stemmed from super-secret, warrantless NSA spying. One reason to set up secret tribunals off the legal grid is, of course, that the evidence shown in them need not be disclosed — and vice versa, in various interlocking ways. Plus, add torture to the mix, and you have all the necessary parts in place for a classic, functioning apparatus of political…well, ‘terror’ is such a harsh word. And luckily, we still have posse comita… Um. Otherwise the military…
Just saying. It really makes you step back a pace and think, “Wow, couldn’t that be abused in terrible ways in the hands of an irresponsible administration, should one ever come to power.”
And of course, it’s just one more reason to worry each time Andrew doesn’t update for a week or so.
Bonus item from the ever-interesting Capitol Hill Blue: ?Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,? Bush screamed back. ?It?s just a goddamned piece of paper!?
Heh. Capitol Hill Blue is teh funny.
I seriously don’t know where the public outrage is on this.
Why is it the Clenis can’t get sucked on without them greasing up the guillotine, but when a sitting president authorizes a government agency to break the law, people are making all sorts of excuses. “Well it’s for security blah blah blah…” Seriously, take a look at LGF right now.
That shit is stupid. Not only should everyone have to swallow the patriot act and everything else in the name of national security, but now everyone has to pretend that it’s ok Bush let that shit go on for three years without telling the people, or maybe say, I dunno, going to congress and asking for that power legally?
They allready have exceptions for emergencies, as long as they let the courts know within 72 hours that they did what they did.
If this shit doesen’t get Bush impeached, I feel really sorry for the Americans here, because that means the guy is made of teflon. He could practically skull fuck a baby on TV, say it was to stop the terrorists and you’d still have to deal with him for 3 more years. Holy shit, I know i’m ranting but I can’t even get my head around this, I mean, here (Canada) we’re voting for a whole new government because of a small scandal that noone really cares about anymore, I’m not saying that’s a model of effiency, but there’s got to be a happy middle ground here somewhere.
Calm down, chill, get mellow! Bush is simply following the super-double-secret constitution, which reads, “L’etat, c’est moi!” Hell, I’m sure he talked to God before he broke the law, so obviously God thinks it’s ok!
Ahhhh Lois XIV.
Might I add this memorable quote, which I feel also applies…
“Has god forgotten all that I have done for him?”
Speaking of not posting for a while, does anybody know which secret prison Billmon’s in?
domestic spying on american citizens without a warrent = scarier than the threat of terrorism
as long as bush can use the old “i’m doing this to protect you” canard, he will abuse his power in any way he sees fit. the american people can only disarm him by being brave enough to say “thanks but no thanks buddy. we’ll take our chances on national security and not give a dipshit like you the chance to poke around wherever you like.” this man needs to be impeached.
Bushie can’t find OBL or “number two” after three years of looking. Hell, he couldn’t even find his own ass if he was looking for it with both hands! Them playing spy vs. spy may make the sheeple feel better but it don’t help me none. Government intelligence is one of them oxymorons and I think we all know who the “moron” in government is.
Um, uh… Big Government Out Of Our Lives?
Mr. x – More accurately, I think he puts the “moron” back into “oxymoron”. I’ve never seen such a walking set of contradictions in my life.
Perfect example, the man is a teetotaling (so we’re told) born again christian, yet he considers it imperative that Texas execute retarded prisioners…
It’s just a piece of paper!
Like the Treaty of London or the Munich Accord.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, google it.
The “super-double-secret constitution” is in French?!! Verdammt!
Timmah, Maybe he should start drinking again so he wouldn’t be such an uptight asswipe jerk-off about everything. If they executed all the retards in Texas we wouldn’t have him to worry about now, would we?
Did you see the interview with Jim Lehrer? Our wonderful Cobag in Chief said he wouldn’t discuss the various ways they gather intelligence. My, isn’t that convenient?!
Seriously, how the f*ck does this hurt the government that people knwo that we have been wire-tapping? The secret rubber-stamp courts aren’t enough? Do the terrorists have warrant detectors?? The only thing that makes sense is they are spying on Dems, or some such thing, or that the wire taps are much more extensive and blanketing that they would like anyone to believe. As I have said before, the only reason to try to make torture legal or keep secret stuff off the books is if you want to do a lot of it. You can always get away with a little.
They probably don’t execute all the retarded people, just the ones darker than light tan.
And speaking of spying on US citizens, did you guys see this nugget Digby and teh l4m3 posted today on their respective blogs? Lurvely.
Apologies for the callous use of the term “retard”. Got a little carried away there. Seriously though, Bushie probably has wet dreams about tehrists coming out of the woodwork so he can be popular again. Hell, he makes a thousand for every one he kills they ought to be by now, wouldn’t one have to think? Yeah, this war thing is workin’ out real nice…
F*** it, I’m convinced. Eric Cartman is our president. The petulance. The small child illogic. The absent father figure. The complete whore of a mother. Oh, well three out of four ain’t bad.
I agree.
Seriously, when I saw that quote I thought it had to be of your snarky jokes. IT’S JUST A GODDAMNED PIECE OF PAPER????!!!!
And Doc Sandwich called me barbaric for saying chimp-boy deserved to be slow roasted?
Why do righties hate America? (Seriously, why do they?)
…one of your snarky jokes…
(God, I’m so pissed off I could spit nails right about now!)
Yeah, that was me…
“G*ddammned”? Isn’t there like, a Commandment or something about taking something or other in vain…?
I noticed that the idiot attention-whore sandwich boy hasn’t shown up on this thread.
Be careful what you (unconsciously) wish for, aaron. And thanks for that dubious invitation.
Just when you thought it was safe to step out into the blogosphere with more left-wing groupthink, THE ‘WICH IS BACK!
BLT, if you are NOT aaron, that was HILARIOUS!!!!!! If you are aaron, I am upset at your subterfuge.
Stop it Aaron, there’s only one Dr. BLT!
No, it was me, Pinko, and like the song by that great Canadian rock band goes: “YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHIN’ YET!”
I not only want to be on O’Reilly’s enemies list but I also want to be on Nixon’s (oops, flashback) Bush’s enemies list.
“First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out;
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out;
Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Martin Niemoller, 1892-1984
First they came for the terrorists, but I was not a terrorist, so I did not speak out;
Then they came for the peace activists and internet bloggers, but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out;
Then they came for the Muslims but I was not Muslim so I did not speak out.
We know the rest of it, don’t we? Sad how history is repeating itself. To paraphrase a founding father, Those who would give up their civil liberties for security deserve neither.
Let me know when they start wiretapping the trolls. Now, that’s where I draw the line.
zeej cainzeoimu