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Wiretap Whistleblower, a Life in Limbo?
Newsweek has an interesting report on Thomas M. Tamm, the individual who blew the whistle on the Federal Government's warrantless wiretaps. The piece takes a look at some of the circumstances leading up to the disclosure and what has happened since. "After the raid, Justice Department prosecutors encouraged Tamm to plead guilty to a felony for disclosing classified information — an offer he refused. More recently, Agent Lawless, a former prosecutor from Tennessee, has been methodically tracking down Tamm's friends and former colleagues. The agent and a partner have asked questions about Tamm's associates and political meetings he might have attended, apparently looking for clues about his motivations for going to the press, according to three of those interviewed."
Here, I thought you were about to tell us how your home was raided by black-suited agents and you were jailed in Gitmo as an "enemy combatant." So you really just chickened out, assuming that you would be persecuted? Perhaps you are not ready for freedom. Do you really think that an Obama presidency will help? He thinks it's okay to tell radio and TV stations what to air. If a station's editorials appear too biased against the left, his regime will invoke the "Fairness Doctrine".
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Excuse me Mr. Oh So Self Righteous Asshat!
It's only a felony if it is determined that what he was told not to reveal was legal. That's in the godam Uniform Code of Military Justice fer gawdsakes. I think it could also be construed from the constitution or at least the oath that he would have had to take when he was given the clearance. If he was not authorized to have that information then the person who allowed him access to it committed the felony. He believed he WAS defending the constitution!
I guess having a low /. membership number means only that you are an old asshole. And check there who is delusional!
It should not be possible to classify illegal government activity.
Huh? I don't know what that sentence means. The obvious literal meaning doesn't seem to be what you mean.
This man took a chance to protect my freedom and yours
That's your opinion. I hope you are not so naive to believe this one-sided retelling of the facts. Remember Deep Throat: it turns out that Mark Felt had significant self-serving motivations.
But the point is that he committed a felony. To say it is "chilling" that he is being pursued for his crime is stupid.
why do you hate America's freedoms?
When did you stop beating your mother?
He means that if an activity is illegal then it's classified status should be voided automatically.
That's obviously silly. It's unpracticable. Imagine an activity where we have a covert op to find a nuclear weapon device, but someone in that op does something illegal. The whole op should be declassified? Well, you may argue, the op wasn't illegal, so it wouldn't apply. But these things are never completely cut-and-dried. And besides, this warrantless wiretapping system itself has never been found to be illegal.
I will elaborate and rephrase that:
"For me the real issue here is hypocrisy."
OK. I couldn't care less about that, though.
Not that I don't care about hypocrisy in general, but I care far more about doing the right thing in each situation. For example: I am against the warrantless wiretapping. I am for civil telco immunity. I am for whistleblowing illegal activity. I am a against individual civil servants deciding for themselves what is legal and illegal and going to the press instead of proper channels. And so on.
You are wrong.
No, I'm not.
the methods they have used are excessive.
Howso?
What you have here is a show of force.
Every criminal investigation or prosecution is.
Also, and this is part of the legal system in the US, you have to look at the circumstances of his actions.
And often that is a matter left up to the court to consider.
The man is apparently far from alone from people that were working in those departments in feeling that what has been going on is wrong.
His "feeling" does not mitigate his crime. It has to actually be justified based on the system actually being illegal, and so far it has not been found to be illegal.
Bush isn't really an American
You're not really intelligent.
because he thinks is "just a damn piece of paper" (his words)
Nope. He never said that. There is not a single person who has gone on the record who was there who says he heard him say it. It's not in any transcript. That you want it to be true doesn't make it true.
It is chilling knowing he may face the death penalty potentially for his actions
Howso?
It is chilling knowing how liberal the Bush administration has been with the death penalty
Howso?
It is chilling not knowing if he will really get a fair trial
Only in the sense that no one EVER knows whether anyone will get a fair trial, which has nothing to do with any particular politician or political party.
This story is very chilling indeed
Yet you didn't give me any reason to believe you. Simply saying something is chilling doesn't make it so.
Ever. Period.
Because this is not just a product of just Bush. It's a product of the totalitarian, authoritarian ideology which grips those who voted for Bush-Cheney and would have voted (shudder) for McCain-Palin - at least half of the USA.
That poison which infects your nation, and the military-industrial complex which feeds on it, won't be diluted for decades, if ever.
you had me at #!
Let me connect the dots so your perl-addled brain might understand why people are modding you down
Why am I not shocked that you think up is down?
The mood of post-9/11 America was paranoid
Yes, as exemplified by the crazy statements of the Dixie Chicks and yourself.
The government reflected that mood, and even acted to fan the flames for its own purposes.
Howso?
Historical precedence and human nature are more than adequate reasons to be fearful of it in this state.
Yes, we have already established you are paranoid.
In that political climate, it is very plausible that an immigrations official might abuse his authority to deny citizenship based on the applicant's perceived loyalty.
That is ALWAYS plausible, and NEVER likely, no matter the "political climate." And even less likely is that they would bother to even look at what the guy's written. And what is most likely is that if an official did do this, he'd be in huge trouble for it.
Do tell the class... what is the point of your posting agent Lawless's personal information here? Harassment? Intimidation??
He's a traitor acting in the interests of treasonous members of the government putting him above the law. Therefore the duty falls upon patriotic citizens to shoot this cowardly treasonous dog in the face on sight. The government has shirked its duty to hold him accountable, therefore it is perfectly just, ethical and moral for a private citizen on their own initiative to kill him on sight. That's how the world works, nitwit. Either that or get used to a life of licking boots. This is the land of the free, home of the brave. If you don't get that, it's obviously not your land, not your home. Why don't you move to some totalitarian shithole which you're better suited for than continue polluting this place with your cowardly shitbaggery?
Whiny little cunts like you make me sick. He's a fucking traitor engaged in misusing his authority to harass a great patriot. When he chose that course of action he rejected any protections afforded to citizens or even human beings as he declared war on America and on the human race as a whole. I hope he gets dragged down and ripped to pieces on the streets. That would go a long way toward restoring my faith in this country, although I suspect it's mostly just a nation of weak willed cowardly bitches like you.