That Would Seem To Be A ‘No’
Ding-dong. Who’s there? It’s Blogs For Bush again. And this time they have a hot one.
NSA Program: Impressive Safeguards for Civil Liberties
By Mark Noonan at 09:13 PMAny liberal or lefty want to apologise about this?
WASHINGTON — After a delay of more than a year, a government board appointed to guard Americans’ privacy and civil liberties during the war on terror has been told the inner workings of the government’s electronic eavesdropping program…
…Board members said that they were impressed by the safeguards the government has built into the NSA’s monitoring of phone calls and computer transmissions, and that they wished the administration could tell the public more about them to ease distrust.
“If the American public, especially civil libertarians like myself, could be more informed about how careful the government is to protect our privacy while still protecting us from attacks, we’d be more reassured,” said Lanny Davis, a former Clinton White House lawyer who is the board’s lone liberal Democrat.
If Lanny Davis appears as ‘the sole liberal Democrat’ in something, it’s prudent to double-check the silverware. When last we encountered Davis, he was trashing liberal blogs as ‘anti-Semitic‘ on the Wall Street Journal editorial page, as part of his effort to keep Joe Lieberman in the Senate. Now he has a book out decrying partisanship on ‘the left and the right,’ blurbed by none other than our pal Michael Medved:
To many conservatives, Lanny Davis is a cherished anomaly: a thoughtful liberal, a decent guy, and a fair-minded Democratic operative who loves his country even more than he loves his party. This challenging book offers a road map for helping America climb out of the current mosh pit of ugly, partisan mud wrestling and to substitute constructive competition for today’s mutually assured destruction.
Anyone who wonders why a howling Republican bridge-troll like Medved would praise such a book is welcome to read it.
You might have noticed ellipses in the quoted AP story above. They conceal an important detail:
The board, created by Congress and appointed by Bush
In fact, since we’re looking things up, there’s a White House web page for the board, as well as an official Privacy & Civil Liberties Oversight Board site — where the following information is sitting right out where anyone can see it (emphasis ours):
the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was established by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. It consists of five members appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the President. The Chairman and Vice Chairman are confirmed by the Senate. Board members are selected from among trustworthy and distinguished citizens outside the Federal Government who are qualified on the basis of achievement, experience, and independence. The Board is part of the White House Office within the Executive Office of the President and supported by an Executive Director and staff.
You could say that this ought to cushion any surprise at the board’s endorsement of the policies of George W. Bush. Board members also include Texas Bush crony Carol Dinkins and Bush Solicitor General and Bush v. Gore lawyer Ted Olson.
Back to the AP story:
Alan Raul, a former Reagan White House lawyer and the board’s vice chairman, said he also was impressed.
“We found there was a great appreciation inside government, both at the political and career levels, for protections on privacy and civil liberties,” said Raul, author of a book of civil liberties. “In fact, I think the public may have an underappreciation for the degree of seriousness the government is giving these protections.”
Interestingly, calling Raul the ‘author of a book of civil liberties’ elides the key detail that the book, Privacy and the Digital State: Balancing Public Information and Personal Privacy, is in fact what you’d have to call ‘a book against civil liberties.’
To sum up: Bush appointed a stacked board, beholden to no one but himself, which serves as part of the Executive Office of the President. It was briefed on the NSA program by ‘senior staff.’ Unsurprisingly, this produces a report favorable to the White House — and because of this report, ‘liberals’ concerned with privacy are supposed to be all like, “Oopsie-doodles, our bad.”
I’m trying to calculate the amount of dumb that would require, but it’s an amount of dumb unexpressable by puny Earth numbers.
Here are the Blogs For Bush boys again with a unique new theory on the NSA scandals:
As regards Davis’ comment – I turn it around: if people on the liberal/left side of the spectrum had been a bit more measured and responsible in their criticism, this issue could have been resolved far more quickly, and with less potential damage to national security.
Yeah, Greenwald. This whole mess was your fault. Thank God Lanny Davis was able to step in and resolve things before the terrorists got, like, totally emboldened and swarmed Dubuque, chattering on cheap cell phones and brandishing copies of How Would a Patriot Act.
Seriously, it’s a good thing we’ve risen above partisanship, pace Davis, otherwise it would seem that Noonan just performed that insane blame-twisting maneuver that Republicans have come so reflexively to do, as though indulging a tic or compulsively touching every lamppost they pass.
It’s almost as though they’re afloat on a sea of…oh wait:
The problem with the critics – especially those on the left – is that they are afloat on a sea of hatred, and thus anything done by the Bush Administration is immediately considered evil – and will remain evil even after proven otherwise (I know full well that the left will discount this report – it doesn’t fit a “hate Bush” storyline, and thus it will be denounced when it can’t be ignored).
HAT TIP: Captain’s Quarters
Posted by Mark Noonan at November 29, 2006 09:13 PM
And indeed, this very notion is virulating all through the right-wing wankosphere tonight. Let’s check back tomorrow and see whether Perfesser Corncob snaps at the bait. He hates him some Greenwald, yes he does.
Yes, he does, with the particular hate that a would-be ambulance chaser has for an actually successful lawyer.
As a good rule of thumb, whenever you see a “…” in the middle of a source, especially when dealing with political writtings, especially right wing wrightings, you can pretty mush disregard everything they say. The dots are a powerful tool against the stupid and lazy.
Now, commence the, “And if they prove me wrong, that just further proves that I’m right!” meme.
Something tells me that these same apologists for the Decider will have a collective epiphany around November of 2008 about how maybe this executive branch program with no oversight might not be such a great idea afterall.
I’m so old, I remember when Republicans used to rail about the encroachment of government on their personal liberties. But that was back when people had the good sense to elect Democrats. State’s rights, small government, corruption, fiscal restraint, and privacy rights don’t seem to interest them anymore.
I’m so old, I remember when Republicans used to rail about the encroachment of government on their personal liberties.
Ahem:
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a27337612f5.htm
This is a freeper article and comment thread from November 2000 blasting the FISA court. Apparently they had a problem with a secret court rubber-stamping wiretap warrants. Now, of course, they just want to get rid of courts and warrants completely.
Freepers. If they had brains, they’d be dangerous.
Oh, noes! Not th’ dreaded elipsesezesezzesesszesezzsz!! Ah cain’t nevah figgure out that there mighta been somethin’ in between them at some point!!1! Them righties iz jes’ too slick fer me! Gorsh!
Ooh–lest I forget–/rightard projecting.
The board, created by Congress and appointed by Bush
Only a republican would be stupid enough not to know, even without being told, that this is the punchline. For pity’s sake, what would you expect, that the board was appointed by three monkeys in the National Zoo with darts and a copy of the No Fly list? Of course the board was appointed by Bush, and of course the result is favorable. How the hell else would it work? I would personally expect *any* president or even governor to do the same damned thing.
Stupider than spike heels on an elephant, the lot of them.
Stupider then an elephant trampoline?
I’m discounting this report. Now free to a good home.
I’ll take it, but only if it comes with Lanny Davis and someone trained in civil liberties to educate Lanny Davis.
Glenn Greenwald training video sold separately. Not available in stores.
[…] Gavin at Sadly, No and Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory tear it all to shreds quite nicely, however. […]
is that they are afloat on a sea of hatred, and thus anything done by the Bush Administration is immediately considered evil
My personal favorite Republican meme. Yep, right around November 2000 I simply decided to start hating George W Bush–got no reason, what the heck? Then he did perfectly acceptable things like stealing the presidency, taking a vacation while his advisors were trying to warn him about 9/11, starting an illegal war, and destroying America’s burgeoning jobs situation, etc. and it gave me even more opportunities to hate him. For no reason.
The Right has an….argument regarding this…committee’s findings.
Original Statment: The Right has an ill-considered, entirely ridiculous, assinine argument regarding this establishment-ridden, hack-filled committee’s findings.
You (or rather, the BFB) left the byline off of the story. It’s John Solomon of the AP.
Because as I was reading the item (with and without the ellipses) the same question kept popping up — What idiot reporter is gullible enough to write this?
Lanny Davis is a liberal Democrat? Alan Raul, impressed with civil liberties protections? “[T]hey wished the administration could tell the public more about them [the safeguards] to ease distrust.” What’s next — low, low prices on the Brooklyn Bridge?
The way this reporter typed up without question the words of a Bush Administration board reminded me of this reporter who uncritically repeated baseless charges lodged against Harry Reid, the next Senate Majority Leader. Apparently that reporter was well known as a soft touch, eager for headlines and not too interested in researching the facts. Sure enough, when I Googled John Solomon, up came the Reid stories, like this from October: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/11/175829/67
“Oversight board told of privacy protections.” A stenographic scoop like this isn’t surprising. It’s simply more of Solomon’s wisdom.
“Then he did perfectly acceptable things like stealing the presidency, taking a vacation while his advisors were trying to warn him about 9/11, starting an illegal war, and destroying America’s burgeoning jobs situation, etc. ”
Oh, I am so with you. If anyone BUT Bush had done these things I would totally have supported him. But…..I guess I just hate Bush.
[um…sarcasm indicator, for those who may be sarcasm-impaired]
Can we launch a civil suit against Solomon?
I donno, for crass incompetence stupidity and mendacity?
He’s a GOP worm in the heart of the APpple.
So wait, it took the NSA over a year to cook up the story they were going to tell a Boosh appointed board chosen, more than likely, for their hostility toward civil liberties. That would be pretty suspicious if it hadn’t already passed the rigorous Mark Noonan Test.
Well, I dunno, Hate Encrusted Eyes, I’m thinking if we’re going to start suing people for crass incompetence, stupidity and mendacity, Solomon’s gonna have to go to the end of a pretty long line. OK, maybe not the very end of the line.
Glenn Greenwald summed it up pretty nicely when he pointed out that it is totally irrelevant whether Bush broke the law in a careful manner. It’s the fact that he broke the law, repeatedly, blatantly and it’s a freakin’ felony for God’s sake.
Lanny Davis’s statement is pretty close to “Well, I was impressed that while my house was burglarized last night, the burglars were very careful not to break anything or make too much of a mess of the drawers and closets.”
Bush, the gentleman bandit.
Greenwald has it right: it’s the illegality, stupid. If someone is robbing liquor stores at gunpoint, you don’t pat him on the back for keeping the safety on the gun.
“Oversight board told of safety precautions
“…Board members said that they were impressed by the safeguards the thief has built into his robbing of liquor stores and check-cashing fronts, and that they wished the robber could tell the public more about them to ease fear and worry.
“If the American public, especially civil libertarians like myself, could be more informed about how careful this armed robber is to avoid shooting bystanders while still stealking from brown people, we’d be more reassured,â€? said Lanny Davis, a former Clinton White House lawyer who is the board’s lone liberal Democrat.”
Hey, no harm, no foul, right?
Look, FISA is and always has been a rubber stamp. So the only possible reason bush had for working around FISA and going without warrants in direct violation of the law and the constitution can only be that he wanted to use the NSA for his own purposes. He wanted to wiretap political enemies, reporters and members of his own staff, and no court, not even FISA would have been willing to allow that. Hell, even those judges can be impeached.
Me, I’m much more interested in this. Sure looks to me like the government might just lose this one, and if they do, Mr. President’s-above-the-law might just have to start thinking about living in exile. Hey, maybe Idi Amin’s old digs in Riyadh will be available!!
mikey
That … Seem
Ding-ding … have a hot one.
When ‘the sole liberal’ … blogs … on the Wall … , … his efforts to keep … our pal … a howling … bridge-troll … is welcome.
You could say that this … cushion …include[s] … Bush … Bush … and Bush.
Interestingly, … a book of … Privacy … Information … is in fact … [a] call … ‘book.’
I’m trying to … require … dumb … numbers.
Here are … boys … with … unique … scandals.
Thank God … terrorists got … cheap.
It’s a good … pace … that … that insane … though indulging … tic … pass[ed].
It’s … afloat on a sea of … virulating … bait … yes.
[The End]
————- Warning — Lack of Snark —————-
For the artistic use of ellipses, I recommend A Humument:
http://www.tomphillips.co.uk/humument/0/001010/index.html
got no reason, what the heck?
C-I-L-L mah landlord.
Dan Someone, I cannot believe that you remember that poem.
Mikey:
From the story you linked…
The prosecutors also say there is “not a shred of record evidence� to back up Padilla’s claims that he was tortured and asserted that the “conditions of his confinement were humane and designed to ensure his safety and security.�
And guess who was keeping Padilla’s medical and interrogation records during his incarceration? Seriously, what judge could possibly accept this argument?
“Your honor, we have absolutely no record of us committing any crimes.”
Dammit. Twice, I’ve clicked on mikey’s link to MSNBC news and my browser crashed.
Now, why would a site owned by Microsoft have a problem with Firefox? (‘Scuse me while I adjust my tinfoil…)
Fun with mikey’s linked story and ellipses…
Nov. 29, 2006 – A looming … enemy combatant Jose Padilla … is threatening to create new … terrorism.
[…] Read more: here […]
Hola faretaste
mekodinosad