Why the Surveillance Is A Big Deal

[DaveT]

The technology now exists to scan the digital information streaming to and from the satellites in the sky to monitor the totality of phone communications on earth. This technology does not correspond well (if at all) to the existing laws which apply to the tapping of specifc land lines. In the absence of either law or protocols dealing with this technology, the Bush Administration just started using it -- apparently briefing a few Federal Judges and Members of Congress.

My first question is why would I believe that the Bush Administration would make a sincere effort to use this awesome technology to thwart potential terrorist attacks? Why not use it to spy on Democrats and liberals who might be calling their hookers, their dope dealers, their bookies or their unwed daughters on their way to the abortion clinic? Why not use it to gather information on stock markets, currency exchanges and the injuries of football players in order to outguess the point spread?

This fundamental question of trust is of course the driving philosophy of the Fourth Amendment. Our system of government is organized around the idea that no one individual deserves this kind of trust. Judges are given lifetime appointments to protect them from political pressure and they are given the responsibility for making sure that the Executive is sincere in its use of its power to kick down your door or to read your mail or to listen to you talk on the phone.

The "war on terror" as a rationale for broader Presidential power is bogus from jump street, in my opinion. It is an open joke used to get around the Constitution and the Separation of Powers. This is not the first time bullshit has been conjured up to justify ignoring the letter and spirit of Constitutional government, and it most certainly will not be the last.

But it is pure bullshit.



The specific harm done by the electronic surveillance already conducted is impossible to assess because we will never know for sure how this program really worked. We will be told a story that will have some truth to it, but it will not be all true, and it will not be the whole truth.

Nevertheless, I will stipulate that probably little if any real harm has been done yet.

The danger of this element is, in my opinion, congruent to the danger of the Padilla Case; the danger of rendition and torture; the danger of the global gulag that is being assembled.

It is a hack's lie to claim that this shit is just the same old FDR-Nixon Imperial Presidency growing incrementally. No, this is a systematic effort to build the precedents and infrastructure to give "The President" a unilateral power that has never been feasible before in American history.

Never before has any President asserted the unilateral right to disappear you. Never before has the technology existed to track and catalog everybody. Never before has a completely nihilist faction seized power over the Federal Government.

The earth is moving under our feet as 2005 ticks away. I believe that the elites are waking up to the audacity of the Cheney-Halliburton subfaction within the business community.

Let us all hope that it is not already too late.

[hwmnbn]

1. Great post, DaveT......

I agree the fundamental changes occurring today are the biggest danger to our democratic way of life. If we let the chimp proceed, America will only be a memory.

Recommended

[Deja Q]

2. If peak oil is for real...

It ultimately won't make a difference either way.

As has been said, enjoy life. It's all we can do.

[HereSince1628]

3. The big deal is violating the constitution and the laws

Technology has only changed the nature of what they are collecting.
Granted digitized emails and phone calls take less storage space and can be mined using automation. But THAT is not the issue.

It is all about evidence that Bush not only has broken the law but it actually proud of it, believes his actions are beyond the limitation or review of the Congress and the Judiciary.

He dares US to do something about it, and we damned well WILL.

[peanutbrittle]

4. A FULL INVESTIGATION is warranted on the POTUS

It would appear

According to Ashcroft himself

A FULL INVESTIGATION is warranted on the POTUS

B. FULL INVESTIGATIONS

snip---

(iv) depriving individuals of any rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States

http://www.usdoj.gov/olp/generalcrimes2.pdf

[hwmnbn]

6. Hi peanubrittle, welcome to DU.....

:hi:

Let's see if Gonzalez has read that memo.

[DaveT]

5. Not sure what "the" issue means, but

I certainly agree that Bush is drawing a line in the sand.

I contend that we must clearly state why we are upset about what Bush is doing. If we say that "the law is the law," we are vulnerable to the Clinton Comparison -- why didn't we get all worked up about Presidential perjury?

The new technology backed up by the right to disappear and torture enemies of the State equals a new and different kind of threat to our liberty. I think everybody can understand that -- liberals, moderates, conservatives, slackers and apathetics as well. We absolutely need a national consensus against this unprecented bid for absolute power.

The venality has been seen before, going back to John Adams. But never before has a gangster mentality had this kind of a chance to establish permanent control over all our lives.

Yes, we have to cross over that line and take this gang on.