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Obama Administration Defends Warrantless Wiretapping
a whoabot writes "The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Obama administration has stepped in to defend AT&T in the case over their participation in the warrantless wiretapping program started by Bush. The Obama administration argues that that continuation of the case will lead to the disclosure of important 'state secrets.' The Electronic Frontier Foundation has described the action as an 'embrace' of the Bush policy." Update: 04/07 15:18 GMT by T : Glenn Greenwald of Salon has up an analysis of this move, including excerpts from the actual brief filed. Excerpt: "This brief and this case are exclusively the Obama DOJ's, and the ample time that elapsed — almost three full months — makes clear that it was fully considered by Obama officials."
When it comes to wiretapping, the same status quo was maintained when Bush senior yielded the presidency to Clinton. In fact, Clinton expanded wiretapping for US economic gains, claiming it would "level the playing field." See James Bamford's Body of Secrets .
Nearly all our presidents over the last few decades have pretty much been in agreement that violation of privacy is cool. The exception is Carter, who actually tried hard to limit the intercepts. And old-time NSA employees, military and civilian, despise him for it, because a lot of them get off on unhindered access to communications.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/06/obama/index.html
I thought we pretty much knew this information. I guess that's the case for most "classified" information, the public already has a pretty good idea about what it is.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
Clearly, the President is choosing something over our ideals. It's about time that he explained what he's choosing.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
So vote for a socialist candidate. If you're trying to get to New York from Philly, your best bet is to head north, not west.
Your libertarian comment is quite political in the truest sense, as it is the far right which has tried to paint itself as libertarian without actually being so, and the far left which has encouraged the misunderstanding to keep its own faithful. I fail to see how being anti-war, anti-empire, anti-drug war, pro-privacy, and pro-freedom are characteristics of the far right.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Obama voted for FISA while in the Senate. Were people just hoping he didn't really mean it?
Look, the handwriting has been on the wall for a while. He's a politician from Chicago.
People went all crazy about him without pausing and realizing he is still a politician.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
No, I'm saying we have universal healthcare that's up to a damn good standard, but if I want to be treated like I'm in a five star hotel then I can pay the extra for it, and I *still* pay less in tax and less in private insurance than the average american.
Original article by John Goekler: http://www.counterpunch.org/goekler03242009.htmlhttp://www.counterpunch.org/goekler03242009.html
Of the top things to be scared of there is no mention of terrorism. But watch out for family members! "Over 16,000 Americans will be murdered this year, most often by a relative or friend."