The great betrayal

I read the following commentary in Raw Story and frankly, I'm speechless. I will go as far as to say I feel utterly betrayed... and have removed my trust from the Obama basket.

No wonder Obama won't investigate the Bush Administration.

I'm remembering, quite rapidly, why I became an Independent in the first place. Both of these parties are simply two sides of the same corrupted coin. Obama is a Democrat. He's part of the great, rotten machine.

Trust is a dangerous thing. But once given, it can be taken back. As Lincoln said: If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. Lincoln also said "Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT, stand with him while he is right and PART with him when he goes wrong."

As I read this Raw Story below, I heard my confidence in Obama shatter; it sounded like a glass window exploding.

Obama was a Constitutional lawyer; this we have been told. A law professor. I wonder how he makes that work... with this?

Obama Administration quietly expands Bush's legal defense of wiretapping program
John Byrne
Published: Tuesday April 7, 2009

In a stunning defense of President George W. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, President Barack Obama has broadened the government's legal argument for immunizing his Administration and government agencies from lawsuits surrounding the National Security Agency's eavesdropping efforts.

In fact, a close read of a government filing last Friday reveals that the Obama Administration has gone beyond any previous legal claims put forth by former President Bush.

Responding to a lawsuit filed by a civil liberties group, the Justice Department argued that the government was protected by "sovereign immunity" from lawsuits because of a little-noticed clause in the Patriot Act. The government's legal filing can be read here (PDF).

For the first time, the Obama Administration's brief contends that government agencies cannot be sued for wiretapping American citizens even if there was intentional violation of US law. They maintain that the government can only be sued if the wiretaps involve "willful disclosure" -- a higher legal bar.

"A 'willful violation' in Section 223(c(1) refers to the 'willful disclosure' of intelligence information by government agents, as described in Section 223(a)(3) and (b)(3), and such disclosures by the Government are the only actions that create liability against the United States," Obama Assistant Attorney General Michael Hertz wrote (page 5).

Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is suing the government over the warrantless wiretapping program, notes that the government has previously argued that the government had "sovereign immunity" against civil action under the FISA statute. But he says that this is the first time that they've invoked changes to the Patriot Act in claiming the US government is immune from claims of illegal spying under any other federal surveillance statute.

"They are arguing this based on changes to the law made by the USA PATRIOT Act, Section 223," Bankston said in an email to Raw Story. "We've never been fans of 223--it made it much harder to sue the U.S. for illegal spying, see an old write-up of mine at: http://w2.eff.org/patriot/sunset/223.php --but no one's ever suggested before that it wholly immunized the U.S. government against suits under all the surveillance statutes."

Salon columnist and constitutional scholar Glenn Greenwald -- who is generally supportive of progressive interpretations of the law -- says the Obama Administration has "invented a brand new claim" of immunity from spying litigation.

"In other words, beyond even the outrageously broad 'state secrets' privilege invented by the Bush administration and now embraced fully by the Obama administration, the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and -- even if what they're doing is blatantly illegal and they know it's illegal -- you are barred from suing them unless they 'willfully disclose' to the public what they have learned," Greenwald wrote Monday.

Here comes the new boss... same as the old boss.

FBI abusing Patriot Act; Gonzo knew, lied AGAIN

First... you, in the FBI. Come on guys. Surely patriotism - and I mean real patriotism, not this bullshit 'Patriot Act' that only exists to terrorize the American populace - surely patriotism and the most basic ethics would have caused some of you to pause and think. Surely some of you in the FBI knew what you were doing was flat out wrong.

According to a recent AP article, you were/are mining our personal data right and left; for all sorts of investigations that were never authorized under the Patriot Act:

The FBI is gathering and sorting information about Americans to help search for potential terrorists, insurance cheats and crooked pharmacists, according to a government report obtained Tuesday. (excuse me... crooked pharmacists? Boy you must be desperate, because last I heard, pharmacists were the most respected professionals in health care. Oh wait... Big Pharma sent ya?)

Records about identity thefts, real estate transactions, motor vehicle accidents and complaints about Internet drug companies are being searched for common threads to aid law enforcement officials, the Justice Department said in a report to Congress on the agency's data-mining practices. (Anything on indignant bloggers yet?)

In addition, the report disclosed government plans to build a new database to assess the risk posed by people identified as potential or suspected terrorists. (I saw a science fiction movie about this once: identifying criminals before they actually commit any crimes. It was a movie! Fiction! I thought in this country we were innocent, at least until we did something. Originally there was something about actually being proven guilty...)

The chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the Justice Department said the database was "ripe for abuse." (Gee - ya think?) The American Civil Liberties Union immediately derided the quality of the information that could be used to score someone as a terror threat.

It appears the Electronic Frontier Foundation 'acquired' quite a few of your files, showing that you have been abusing your new Patriot Act powers to spy on us at will; for any and every reason imaginable. Crooked pharmacists? What on earth is a crooked pharmacist? Find any crooked insurance companies out there too? Didn't think so. Bet you weren't looking, were you? Thank God for Michael Moore: at least someone cares about us, and not just the corporate masters.

That Patriot Act abomination was supposed to have been about terrorists. It sure didn't take you long to find the loopholes, did it? But then perhaps it was about those loopholes all along. Suddenly you have the power to dig for anything you want; and these secret corporations can amass enormous databases on us - every one of us - keeping all sorts of private details that have nothing at all to do with terrorists, terrorist threats, or even danger.

This is illegal as all hell, patently un-American and outrageously unconstitutional. I don't need a law degree to see that, just an education.

These findings were, unfortunately, not surprising to critics of the Bureau's NSL power. Before the USA PATRIOT Act was passed in 2001, the FBI could unilaterally issue these demands only to obtain the records of suspected terrorists or spies. Under the changes made by the controversial anti-terrorism law, however, the FBI can now use NSLs to get telephone, Internet, financial, credit, and other personal records about anybody -- without any court approval -- as long as it believes the information could be “relevant” to an authorized terrorism or espionage investigation. (The House of Representatives is considering a bill that would add independent oversight to the NSL process, but the legislation hasn't moved since March.)

Here is my question, and I'd really like to know: aren't you guys Americans too? Didn't you go into the spying business with some sense of duty to country -- what the hell motivates you people?

I used to think you were working for us - the people. Now I see you are 'for sale' to whoever runs the partisan, power gig in Washington.

And I have to wonder... with all of this nosing around you have been doing, are you actually watching out for terrorists at all? Or was that all some bullshit line to get everyone to fall into an Orwellian lock-step?

Why would I trust you now? Why would I trust ANY of you, ever again? And have you no shame at all?

From the EFF Website:

On Friday, July 6, the FBI made its first disclosure of 1,138 pages of documents, all of which you can view here. (Please keep in mind that this is the first of many sets of documents we'll be receiving, so this material does not present a complete picture.) Here's what we've spotted that we think is most interesting so far.

More than 350 pages describing investigative missteps that the FBI considered disclosing to the Intelligence Oversight Board, which receives reports on intelligence gathering activities that violate guidelines, laws, or presidential orders. (See Parts 4, 5, and 6 of the FOIA documents, all PDFs.) These pages detail numerous NSL-related blunders -- most often agents making typographical errors that resulted in receipt of information about the wrong people, and ISPs handing over too much (or wrong) data to the FBI. The Bureau usually did not refer these matters to the Intelligence Oversight Board, often chalking them up to administrative errors or third-party mistakes. The FBI also decided against opening internal investigations into many of the incidents.

The FOIA documents show, however, that several cases were forwarded to the Board between April 2005 and February 2007. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was copied on these referrals, despite congressional testimony in April 2005 that he was unaware of any civil liberties violations arising from the PATRIOT Act, and a March 2007 speech in which he claimed to be “upset” and "concerned" by the inspector general's findings.

Copies of more than 60 "exigent letters" [PDF] sent by FBI headquarters to three telecomunications companies. The inspector general determined that the FBI's use of these short form letters, which cryptically asked for telephone records because of unspecified "exigent circumstances," circumvented the law and violated FBI guidelines and policies.

A government proposal [PDF] to expand the NSL provision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act written after the inspector general's report was released.

Various model NSLs, which give us a good sense of what the demands look like, and memos providing guidance on proper use of NSL authority. (See Parts 1 and 2 of the FOIA documents, both PDFs.)

First the CIA and their 'Family Jewels' and now you. Am I to completely distrust my government and every single agency's motives? Are you all completely compromised?

COME ON.

This is bullshit and you know it. At least make a pretense of looking for actual terrorists and leave the pharmacists alone. You might start by finding whoever it was that planted that military-grade anthrax in the mail sent to Senator Leahy. Yeah. That high grade anthrax that could only have been made... here, in the good ol USA.

Francis A. Boyle, an international law expert who worked under the first Bush Administration as a bioweapons advisor in the 1980s, has said that he is convinced the October 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people were perpetrated from within the U.S. in order to push through the Patriot Act Bill:

"Senators Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) were holding it up because they realized what this would lead to. The first draft of the PATRIOT Act would have suspended the writ of habeas corpus [which protects citizens from unlawful imprisonment and guarantees due process of law]. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, come these anthrax attacks."

"At the time I myself did not know precisely what was going on, either with respect to September 11 or the anthrax attacks, but then the New York Times revealed the technology behind the letter to Senator Daschle. [The anthrax used was] a trillion spores per gram, [refined with] special electro-static treatment. This is superweapons-grade anthrax that even the United States government, in its openly proclaimed programs, had never developed before. So it was obvious to me that this was from a U.S. government lab. There is nowhere else you could have gotten that."

Is this totally crazy? Maybe. Maybe not. The guy seems to know his stuff. Who the hell knows - because no one ever found out who did it, and the outcome was awfully convenient. Are you investigating that? You might find out who the real terrorists are - that would be a terrific service to your country. We could use a few more heroes and a few less domestic attackers. 'We the people' are having a tough enough time these days without our government kicking us around the room.

And as for Gonzo... Congress, how long are you going to let this guy LIE IN YOUR FACE?

He knew about these FBI abuses all along, and once again, he lied to you! Get rid of him! He's a disgrace to the rule of law! This isn't partisan... this is obstruction of justice and lying under oath.

From the Washington Post:

As he sought to renew the USA Patriot Act two years ago, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse," Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005.

Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee, according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

How many lies does this make - and under oath? Congress: are you going to do anything about this - ever? For Christ's sake - the entire DoJ is falling apart!

I now have zero confidence in the Executive, in Congress, in the DoJ, in the CIA or FBI, and I'm suspicious even of the Supreme Court (the justices seem suspicious of each other.)

BROKEN. The entire mess is broken. Will no one - will anyone - lift a finger to save our government from itself?

BREAKING: Update to FBI NSL abuse

File this under 'Spying on me pt VII?' (I've lost track)

It would seem our judges are swinging into action! It appears the Rovians didn't get past the prosecutor stage of their infiltration scheme, because we still have quite a few determined judges who still believe in upholding the Constitution (and if I may be so bold: THANK YOU and God bless you!)

From the EFF's website:

June 15, 2007
Judge Orders FBI to Release NSL Abuse Records

New Evidence of Misuse Prompts Immediate Response in EFF FOIA Lawsuit

Washington, D.C. - A judge ordered the FBI today to finally release agency records about its abuse of National Security Letters (NSLs) to collect Americans' personal information. The ruling came just a day after the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the judge to immediately respond in its lawsuit over agency delays.

EFF sued the FBI in April for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request about the misuse of NSLs as revealed in a Justice Department report. This week, more evidence of abuse was uncovered by the Washington Post, and EFF urged the judge Thursday to force the FBI to stop stalling the release of its records on the deeply flawed program.

"The reports we've seen so far about NSL abuse are just the tip of the iceberg," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "FBI officials told the Washington Post that there have likely been several thousand total instances of misuse. Americans deserve answers about this scandal and how the FBI has abused its power to spy on ordinary citizens."

Under the PATRIOT Act, the FBI can use NSLs to get private records about anyone's domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions without any court approval -- as long as it claims the information could be relevant to a terrorism or espionage investigation. Without a judge's oversight, the law is ripe for the abuse that has been uncovered in these recent reports.

"The law itself is the source of the problem. It's time for Congress to repeal these expanded NSL powers and protect Americans from this abuse of authority," said Hofmann.

The judge's order requires the FBI to process 2500 pages of NSL-related records by July 5, and then 2500 pages every 30 days thereafter.

The judge's order

EFF's supplemental memo

Washington Post article on NSLs

Call me crazy or old-fashioned, but I just love seeing the law being enforced.