Official Senate Committee Hearing - Electronic Surveillance - Thread 14

[Viva_La_Revolution]

First 10 NSA Hearing threads - Feb. 6 2006 "Gonzo gets Grilled"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=320&topic_id=660&mesg_id=660

Thread 11
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x336279#336446

Thread 12
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x337036#337092

Thread 13
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x337291

[helderheid]

1. K & R and I must say, I love the pictures in each thread!

[InsultComicDog]

2. Looks like Spy vs Spy

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. I should be redoing my resume (again)

but this is more fun! :)

[helderheid]

19. I have a mountain of laundry, a messy house, and taxes to work on.

:hi:

[LeftNYC]

3. Feingold/Durbin '08! nt

[InsultComicDog]

10. So what's the good news?

Have they made Gonzo look like the sniveling weasel that he is yet?

[LeftNYC]

12. Durbin gets the gold star today...nt

[HereSince1628]

13. Yeah, but too much Midwest, don't ya know.

I really like Feingold as a senator.

I doubt Wisconsin could mount up a senator of similar caliber.

[More Than A Feeling]

17. Sadly, I think Durbin is content to remain a senator.

Too bad, though. Love to have a Democratic Illinoisan president.

[SoCalDem]

4. Gonzo, the Pompous Toad

I cannot believe they won;t put him under oath.. BUT if "lying" to a federal agent (see martha Stewart, not under oath) is punishable by prison, why is lying to congress (sworn AND duly elected "agents" of the federal government) not ?

Just sayin'...

I would think that ANYONE who goes before congress should be automatically "assumed to be" under oath :)

[InsultComicDog]

14. Lying to Congress is not legal

under oath or not. However it's a different offense.

[JudyM]

27. Are there different standards of proof for each offense? Wondering...

[FreedomAngel82]

15. You would think that wouldn't you?

[BR_Parkway]

16. Lying to Congress is a crime - but Congress (RePug control) would

have to bring the charges against him - that ain't happening.

Perjury could be prosecuted by any normal prosecutor - including the rabid, partisan out of control kind like Bobby Earle :sarcasm:

[EFerrari]

28. Technically, they are federal agents, too. n/t

[SoCalDem]

46. and they are MORE than just federal agents, since they were elected

not just hired..:)

[EFerrari]

85. Some of them were elected.

:)

[SoCalDem]

107. Oooh..you have a point there..

Chambliss comes to mind:puke:

[myrna minx]

5. Durbin is wonderful...quoting Justice O'Connor.

"We must preserve our commitments at home..."

Durbin: You are taking this decision and twisting it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

109. I'm afraid that he has at least four and maybe five Supreme Courts

who will dance the Watuzzi to help him spin it.

[stop the bleeding]

6. thank I have been in a meeting since 1:30 - what did I miss

[LSK]

8. where is section 109? anyone have a link?

[More Than A Feeling]

9. Durbin is ON FIRE!

Gonzalez must have no soul, to be able to stand such cutting questions.

[Surya Gayatri]

18. Wow, he's hitting the bullseye! n/t

NO QUARTER!!!

[JudyM]

21. Yes. But Gonzales is spewing twisted truths, even if still standing.

[LeftNYC]

23. Best of the day in my opinion so far...nt

[Roland99]

25. Questions such as??

[FreedomAngel82]

11. I like the comic

LOL. Cute.

[in_cog_ni_to]

20. MY Senator kicked his ass!

:hug: for Durbin! He rocked!

[mod mom]

22. woo hoo Sen Durbin!

:yourock:

[jane_pippin]

24. I don't understand how tapping a phone equals military force...

and I'd like one of the Senators to ask that question--"Define "military force," will you Mr. AG? What kind of activities constitute it?"

Because I bet listening to telephone calls by Quaker peace groups doesn't fit in at all.

[Roland99]

29. Can the Pentagon now act against US citizens?!?!?

[jane_pippin]

33. Well here's what I don't get: AG keeps saying that the vote to give

George the ability to use "force" is justification enough to spy on Americans. I don't see how tapping a phone is "force."

I'd like these terms defined.

[Roland99]

42. Exactly. I want to know why they consider spying using force and how

they figured that the legislation passed in the WoT allows for that.

[Sydnie]

I said that this morning myself

I don't get it at all.

[myrna minx]

37. Gonzales wouldn't answer the question about posse comitatus...

so by their logic, that would be a yes. :scared: :scared:

[EFerrari]

100. Yep. And we know they have databases and we

saw them deployed in NOLA.

[EFerrari]

47. The argument is, yes, via the Patriot Act, I believe. n/t

[EFerrari]

39. "Traditional tools of waging war" is how slimeball

is getting to wiretap.

What Torquemada doesn't understand is that he's just defined the America people as "the enemy".

[jane_pippin]

49. Exactly! That's something that's been driving me nuts...

If you're wiretapping the "enemy" and you're wiretapping, say, peace groups or even just regular old people with no ties to anything just in case, then you're absolutely right, the American People are then the "enemy." And what does that say?

I don't like it, and I hope one of them brings this up.

[emulatorloo]

26. deranged right-wing wingnut fundy nutcase Brownback up now

[democrank]

31. Hit mute

until Brownback disappears. It`s the right thing to do.

[More Than A Feeling]

30. shorter Brownback: BOO!

terror, terror, fear, terror,
jingoistic nationalism!

[emulatorloo]

32. Rolling Stone mag has a profile out now on him -- WHAT A DANGEROUS

KOOK.

Really, what is the matter w Kansas?

[LeftNYC]

41. Who wrote the piece? nt

[emulatorloo]

52. "God's Senator: Inside the War Room of the Religious Right"

"Each week the Christian right holds a war council on Capitol Hill. Thier goal is to turn America into a theocracy. And thier leader is Sam Brownback, the Kansas senator evangelicals want to see in the White House."


by Jeff Sharlet

Rolling Stone Feb 9 2006

[emulatorloo]

57. delete -- wrong spot. . .n/t

[democrank]

40. Jindo Bells, Jingo Bells

Jingo all the way.

[LeftNYC]

34. Brownback using debunked point of how wiretaps could have stopped

9/11...

Bush doesnt read remember, maybe he listens? -:sarcasm:

[emulatorloo]

44. when we find out that Bush started this before 9/11, what will they say?

[BlueEyedSon]

114. WTF was wrong with THIS:

[JudyM]

35. Gonzo's such a slimy toad. Gives lawyers a bad name.

[giant_robot]

36. Barf!

More "Ooga-booga! Terra! Terra!" from Brownback.

[mod mom]

38. "I never differ from Gen Hayden" Wasn't he the dude who got the 4th

amendment wrong?

[Sydnie]

45. yep, that's the dude! n/t

[EFerrari]

50. That's the #2 under Death Squads Negroponte dude. n/t

[Sydnie]

43. Kids are coming home - I missed all of Durbin damnit!

He was good huh?

[Catchawave]

54. I just go back to Viva's thread archives, it really helps me!

[myrna minx]

48. What do you folks think of this thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x337600

rpgamerd00d (725 posts) Mon Feb-06-06 01:40 PM
Original message
*** I CAUGHT AG GONZALEZ IN A LIE - START EMAILING THIS !! ***
Edited on Mon Feb-06-06 01:43 PM by rpgamerd00d

1) He claims FISA says "Except by statute" meaning, they can wiretapp without a warrant AS LONG AS A STATUE EXISTS TO ALLOW IT.
2) He claims that the AUF is that STATUTE.
3) We point out that the AUF HAS NO SUCH LANGUAGE TO OVERRIDE FISA.
4) HE QUOTES A COURT CASE (HAMDI) THAT HAPPENED YEARS AFTER 2001 IS PRECEDENT FOR LANGUAGE NOT PRESENT IN AUF

HOW CAN GONZALEZ AUTHORISE THE NSA PROGRAM IN 2001 BASED ON A HAMDI CASE THAT HASNT HAPPENED YET?

CRYSTAL BALL ?


TOAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[helderheid]

53. I K & Rd it

[myrna minx]

77. Leahy talking about this now!!

Leahy: Was this a CYA or what.

:bounce: :bounce:

[Arkansas Granny]

51. Now Brownback says if we change the FISA law to your liking

will you use it then?

[doublethink]

55. So Gonzales just said we are not at war right?

No war resolution .... did I hear that correctly? Anybody else catch that a second ago?

[LSK]

56. no declaration of war

[doublethink]

60. Of course ....

so how can the 'War President' keep claiming his unchecked authority under these 'we are at war' arguments? Total Bullshit. But we all knew that. :)

[LSK]

58. Leahy back to his question

When did they come to the conclusion that the authorization of military force allowed them to bypass FISA?

[emulatorloo]

61. important question that Gonzo will never answer "I can't give you specific

dates" I'm not going to give you a date

[helderheid]

62. he is so great!!!!!

[LSK]

64. im not asking about prisoners

Im asking why did you feel you have the power to bypass FISA?

[w8liftinglady]

59. Leahy on now

[helderheid]

63. Oh he is on FIYAH!

[Sydnie]

65. I wish C-SPAN had a split screen

I would love to see Leahy and dogfacedboy side by side as Leahy asks questions!

[democrank]

69. Leahy is grilling for the people!

Wish more senators did that.

[JudyM]

66. "I'm not asking what happened in the battlefield in your FAILED attempts

to catch OBL." OMG, that was great!!

[helderheid]

67. Painted into a corner.

[helderheid]

68. sometime in 2004 - 3 YEARS LATER!

[TexasLady]

72. omg leahy ripping ass

this is priceless!

[mrcheerful]

70. Bang shoot score

[helderheid]

74. YES!!

[LSK]

71. LEAHY IS FUMING - WOW!!!

You have not told anyone on the Judiciary committee.

[myrna minx]

79. Wow--is right!!!

[TexasLady]

80. at least we have a press that tells us what YOU are doing!

LMAO

[berner59]

87. wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leahy's spine is so big - he should be called the hunchback!!! Calling him out like he's a lying sack of shit...

Whew...

[LSK]

88. IM SORRY YOU CANT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS RELATED TO THIS

LOL

:rofl:

[AtomicKitten]

73. Brownback kept misstating the facts.

over and over again, even saying the Senate had issued Declarations of War against Iraq and Afghanistan.

This "investigation" is pointless.

[Sydnie]

75. CYA! Call it what it is! n/t

[LEW]

81. Wonder if we will see any of this exchange

on MSM. Not....................................

[gkhouston]

105. I don't know if we'll see this exact exchange

but I expect we'll see some decent coverage of this hearing on Countdown tonight. KO's been doing a running report on "Spies like U.S." and he's not buying the "if * says it's okay, it's okay" spin.

[doublethink]

76. 5 minutes ago ....

Gonzales says rightly so ... there has been no declaration of war, and then just now ... he says the President in a time of war has all these unspecified powers ... :wtf: the guy is creepy. :)

[mod mom]

78. Damn, have to go pick up the kids. Pls take good notes! GO SEN Leahy!

kick his butt!!!

[myrna minx]

82. Leahy said that he wouldn't know about it if it wasn't in the press!!!!

[mrcheerful]

89. It will be re-aired at 8:30 tonight on C-Span

[emulatorloo]

86. "Thank god we have a press to tell us what the heck you guys are doing"

[tgnyc]

83. Leahy has his phaser set to "KILL.": You asked us for amendments to FISA

5 times. But you NEVER asked for this kind of amendment.

[qanda]

84. Go Senator Leahy!

"That God for the press, at least they're telling us what the heck you guys are doing!"

[JudyM]

'I'm sorry, you can't testify about anything relevant to this hearing."

Leahy is making me laugh out loud.

[Wheezy]

98. woot! That was dripping with sarcasm.

Durbin and Leahy on fire...can't wait to hear from Feingold again. :)

[berner59]

103. AG is about to lie right now...

Hatch asking if anyone complained about this...didn't Rockefeller hand write his problems with it and Pelosi??? He's not giving up any info...someone better bring up the letter...

[SeekingDemocracy]

90. CYA!!!!!!!

Bam! God bless the people of VT for Senator Leahy!!!

[Wilber_Stool]

GREAT GOOLELY MOOGALIES!

I think he's going to get up and slap him.

[MuseRider]

91. Outstanding!

I forgot you can't answer any questions that have to do with this.

Simply outstanding, especially the long stare/pause after.

[myrna minx]

92. Does the prez have the power to wiretap americans within the usa?

[helderheid]

93. ARE YOU SPYING ON AMERICANS DOMESTICALLY? I AM NOT COMFORTABLE

ANSWERING THAT.

[bettyellen]

94. he will not answer anything about waht they are doing on "this" program

so are the other programs even MORE secret?
WTF?

[tgnyc]

95. Leahy: I'm sorry, I forgot. You can't answer any questions about anything

that might be relevant.

[myrna minx]

104. LOL--wasn't Leahy great???

:bounce:

[qanda]

96. Did I detect a little sarcasm Mr. Leahy?

"Of course, I'm sorry Mr. Attorney General you can't answer any questions that might be relevant to this!"

[LeftNYC]

97. Looks like Leahy is having Filet O' Gonzalez as a midafternoon

snack. Nice job...!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

99. THREAD 15 IS UP!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x337906

[doublethink]

111. Gonzales ...

"Of course I don't know what they know" but ... we informed congress ... bla bla bla !!! Make it up as he goes along and now he is contradicting himself by the moment instead of by the minute. This is great! What an ass. :)

[emulatorloo]

101. Orrin Hatch back in infomercial mode --

Tell us Mr gonzales about your wonderful product!

[gkhouston]

106. "see how evenly this horseshit is glazed? It's magnificent!" n/t

[mrcheerful]

102. Sessions again, whoo is me, they aren't playing fair

Never mind is Hatch job. I get em confused, darn repigs all look alike.

[SoCalDem]

112. Why do I keep thinking of that ole SNL sketch?

the one where they parodied the OJ trial.. "Your honor is a handsome man, your honor is a sexy man. Hell if I was gay I'd want to have sex with your honor. "..(or something to that effect..

[DainBramaged]

113. Too funny and too true

[SeekingDemocracy]

108. 9/11 happened

Therefore anything we do is reasonable (gonzales)

what a bunch of Nazis.

[whyzayker]

110. Coming into this late

Sorry...but WHICH members of Congress were "briefed?"

Seems to be a recurring theme.