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U.S. Wiretapping Surges 19%
linuxwrangler writes "Court authorized wiretaps in the U.S. surged 19% in 2004 to 1,710. Court orders relating to terror-related investigations are not included in the wiretap statistics and those warrants reached a record 1,754 last year. Apparently judges have found that law enforcement is unbelievably perfect as they rubber-stamped approvals on every single request they received."
Has the Bush administration proven that they really care about the rights of citizens, particularly on the Internet?
That's the Republican interpretation of "a judge must authorize".
They say authorize and the judge must do it.
--Phillip
Can you say BIRTH TAX
Compromised cell phones have already been done in ways more extreme than just bugging.
Dear Lord: One of your creatures may be hurt tonight. Please let it be the other creature.
Excepting that in the case of the Federal courts in particular all judges are appointed by the executive branch and the chief executive can pick people who ARE biased if they so choose and almost always do pick people who see things their way. Of course, there are checks and balances built in to our constitution most importantly that the Senate has to approve them all which can weed out people unfit to be a judge for life.
Unfortunately today thanks to the near collapse of the Democratic party and the rise of the new right wing, Christian fundamentalist dominated Republican party both the executive and Senate are controlled by people with a similar and increasingly extremist bent.
Not to fear our system of government honed over 200 plus years has the filibuster in the Senate to serve as the last check on a majority party seizing control of the judiciary and the government in general. Unfortunately the filibuster exists only in Senate rules and is not enshrined in our constitution. In the past both parties saw it in their interest, and had the wisdom, to preserve the filibuster so if they become the minority party they would not be powerless.
Unfortunately the Republican's are going to throw that wisdom to the wind and very soon they are going to change the Senate rules, eliminate the filibuster, make the Democrats powerless and most probably create a constitutional crisis unlike any we've seen. If they succeed they can appoint any extremist judge they can hold a party line vote on and given a few years, they can stack the federal courts, including the Supreme court with people who may be very biased and not the least bit independent and yes that could eventually lead to a police state. You may have heard of this option, its called the "nuclear option" and when it happens we will basically be living in a one party state as long as the Republicans keep winning elections legitimately or by hook and crook, or decide to rewrite our nations laws to enshrine their one party state as was done in the 1930's in Germany. A political party there seized power largely through democratic means.
@de_machina
neo-con Republicans are Jews and Bush is an Israeli puppet. Why do you think we are at war in the middle east? Not because Bin Laden hates our freedom. He said if we drop Israel, he'll leave us alone.
We are at war for the security of Israel and nothing else. This has become obvious to me now. Of course, I have even on here said as much, stating Israel is our ally and Iraq was funding bombing against them.
Then I realised Israel is not our ally. Thy even sunk one of our warships in the 1970s. We give them $10,000,000 a day which they never pay back, in addition to other loans and military equipment. Which they sell to China.
In fact, I don't even think the gas chamber holocaust shit ever happend. It's only claimed on the Soviet side. The Soviets would not let wester allies in to see it. It's been proven the gas chamber at Auschwitz I is not in its original state, but was an air raid shelter that the Soviets "turned back"(if it ever was) into a gas chamber to take photos of for the Nuremberg trial. Why would the Soviets do this? Because the Russian Revolution was anything but Russian. IT was instigated top down by Jews. Communism was invented by Jews (Marx in particular being the one to codify the beliefs).
Jews also invtented capitalism through their usuery and all. Capitalism and Communism are 2 sides of the same coin. Neither respects national borders or the people of the countries in which they opperate. They are both exploitive and oppressive. As they say : In Capitalism, man exploits man. In communism it's the other way around.
So yes, Neo-Cons are at fault. But they are NOT like Nazis. They are Zionists every one. And it would have been far better that the UNited States had eithe stayed out of the war, or sided with our German brothers (because Germans the largest white cultural group (and white being still 70% of the population) and they are like us) against the soviet communists.
Then there would be no Israel. There would be no islamic terrorism. there wuld have been no korean or vietnam wars. no afghan war. no CIA support of Bin Laden against the communits. No 9/11.
So do not dare to criticise National Socialism, because while not perfect it is the only economic system in which the people are not exploited. it's the only system where jobs stay in the country and cheep workers arent brought in to fill them at the expense of the people. and it was the only philosophy that ever stood a chance against the Marxist and Capitalist Zionists who are the cause of all the trouble in the world.
The Nazi's created a giant interventionist government but it worked hand in hand with giant corporations and industrialists much like today's Republican party.
Such as George Soros.
Today's neo con Republicans are also big fans of aggressive warfare, you know unilaterally invading countries who haven't attacked you under false pretenses, like Nazi Germany.
Such as Bosnia.