Imagine what would be ...if we all stand up and say no... ( Archived) (282)

Never satisfied, the Bush administration now wants expanded warrantless spying authority within and outside the country requesting Congress amend the FISA law legalizing what it's already doing anyway, law or no law. On May 2, director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee claiming the president may legally authorize warrantless surveillance (under the Constitution's Article II making him commander-in-chief) but wants FISA amended so it can do it without challenge it'll ignore anyway. It also wants to fix and modernize what McConnell calls "communication gaps" in intelligence gathering including "monitoring" the internet, cell phones and other new technology as well as "transit traffic" international phone calls and emails.

Amendments requested would further erode laws protecting against illegal searches and seizures and our First Amendment rights connected to them. They would also allow surveillance of any non-citizens in the country "reasonably expected to possess, control, transmit, or receive foreign intelligence information while such a person is in the United States," even if they're not a target of an investigation. In addition the administration wants legal cover to spy on anyone it claims engages in activities related to buying or developing WMDs, even with no evidence to prove it. Bottom line: the Bush administration wants Congress to give it near limitless authority to spy on anyone in any way in the name of national security, and sadly, rhetoric aside, this complicit Congress will likely give in, further eroding what little freedom we still have.

One program is called the Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) to conduct domestic intelligence by amassing a huge data base, again spuriously related to "terrorism." It focuses on war protesters targeted by police state monitoring of their constitutional right to freely oppose the nation's illegal wars of aggression, meaning in Pentagon-think they're threats to national security in the age of George Bush. Now the Pentagon has second thoughts after drawing flack for its illegal intrusions against peace activists. Under secretary of defense, James Clapper, announced through his spokesperson in late April TALON's results have been disappointing and doesn't "merit (being) continued (as) the program (is) currently constituted...in the light of its image in Congress and the media."

What he's likely saying is TALON's activities will be rebranded and continued, the same way all improperly intrusive domestic spying activities drawing flack are carried out in impressive Orwellian style. What he's not saying is all Pentagon domestic spying/surveillance programs violate the Posse Comitatus Act's prohibitions against them. However, last year's Public Law 109-364 (HR 5122 - Defense Authorization Act) revised the 1807 Insurrection Act and 1878 Posse Comitatus allowing the president illegal authority to give the military free reign on claims of a public emergency or that old standby "national security" in the "war on terror." That includes monitoring freely expressed speech and cracking down on it if so ordered.

Article 3, Section 3 of the Constitution defines the strict limits of what George Bush makes light of.

It states: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court." Crimes of treason include:

-- armed insurrection or rebellion;

-- mutiny or unlawfully taking over command of the US government or military;

-- sabotage including damaging or tampering with national defense material;

-- sedition intended to incite rebellion;

-- subversion defined as free speech gone too far by blatantly transmitting false information;

-- Syndicalism that's an act of organizing a political party or group advocating the violent overthrow of the government;

-- Terrorism defined as the systematic use of violence or threats of violence to intimidate or coerce the government or whole societies by targeting innocent noncombatants.

Speaking for the president, an unnamed White House spokesman said in January, 2003 George Bush "considers this nation to be at war, and, as such, considers any opposition to his policies to be no less than an act of treason" although he had no legal basis to say it, and publicly expressed opposition to government policies is not an act of treason as the Constitution defines it above.
Nonetheless, according to Bush-think: "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," and by implication are guilty of treason. According to Bush, if a US citizen or foreign state "continues to harbor or support terrorism (it) will be regarded by the United States as a hostile power," meaning, justified or not, line up behind George Bush, or else.
...???:::

The Last Frontier of Press Freedom and Crucial Battle to Save It If the telecom and cable giants prevail, lawmakers will remove the few remaining regulatory barriers remaining giving them full control over what they already have most of plus one remaining free and open public media space - the online world of internet communication still able to produce material like this article free from the censoring power of media giants or government to prevent.

Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, says in his book, Digital Destiny, the telecom and cable companies are lobbying ferociously for "new national policies....to connect everyone to what they call a 'superbroadband' Internet highway. (If they get their way), the companies vow that the nation will benefit from advances in healthcare, improvements in the quality of life for senior citizens, and major boosts for jobs and the economy."
But to achieve this, government must get out of the way and give the media giants free reign as "Competition....will address any problem once handled by law or regulation and also bring us the promised digital cornucopia."
It's hard believing any sane person would buy this argument, but who said lawmakers invoke reason or the public interest when huge campaign contributions are the mother's milk of politics, and no need guessing where they come from.

Today, the internet is last frontier of press freedom Net Neutrality supporters, are fighting back to save.
We're up against giant corporate predators aiming to take from us what's ours, and going against them is no easy task. There's even an astonishing and threatening report by Steve Watson (infowars.net) that federal government funded researchers "want to shut down the internet and start over, citing the fact that at the moment there are loopholes in the systems whereby users cannot be tracked and traced all the time." They call their proposed substitute Internet 2 claiming it would be faster and more streamlined for those willing to pay more for it.

Supporters of this idea won't say telecom and cable giants will control it, and they and government regulation would allow only "appropriate content" in the fast lane with whatever else is allowed "relegated to the slow lane internet." What's even more at stake is a free and open public internet space, as we know it, that will almost certainly disappear if this new scheme is developed with powerful gatekeepers in charge deciding what's published, what's not, and how much users will be charged.

Also at stake is bipartisan support for "all out mandatory ISP snooping on all US citizens" plus the Pentagon's recently announced "effort to infiltrate the Internet and propagandize for the war on terror," its foreign wars, and all others to come. Further, there are government efforts to force bloggers and activists "to register and regularly report their activities to Congress."

Non-compliance could result in a prison term up to one year.

If only we would realize - when this happens its the most powerful Dictatorship ruling the world -

all true... they are setting up the foundation for this.
I can rant and scream from the rooftops "look, see what is about to unfold and be.

then a freindly voice from the ground yells up and says "come down old man this will not occur in your lifetime....."

then a nieghbor across the way screams from her window "This is not what is meant by freedom of speech, you old coot" get down off your roof its 4 in the morning, and please get some clothes on!!"

yeah I remember when defending the freedoms of others meant something beside jut a profit.

and yeas both where right even if its the middle of may its chilly outsdie at 4 am.

come quickly down before they sent you the white coats ..

they scary thing is I'll be up there tommorrow or on the porch yelling across the street

"have you heard what they doing to us now?"

but tomorrow I'll take a bigger cup of coffee and wear robe, even that "white coat" if they get here before i start.

One day soon there just might be some pounding on your door and thousands of others and as you look out the window holes that the teargas canisters made, you may glimpse those guys in the white coats, behind the swat teams ready to charge you when you open the door, or try to nab you as you exit a window and jump...not fun, been there, done that several times; actually, it started to get rather boring...
Some of the posts have made me wonder about what has become of one of the most outspoken social critics of the entire "Burning Bush" evangelical need for war against the world, Micheal Moore and his old People's Democratic Republic of Television that he had on TV as "The Awful Truth"...I wonder if the alleged threats from the monkey house...white house, about putting him through tax audits and making it hard for him to work anymore, have been carried out. Moore's latest project about the total fraud of the US "health system" is, as far as I know, finished...where is it...where is Michael Moore, to further expose Bush and his cabal...with wit, humour and deadly sarcasm...I miss him...

He is at the Cannes Film “SiCKO,” it has been selected to be part of the main program of this year's Cannes Film Festival.

-- Meghan O'Hara, Producer, SiCKO

says :

'SiCKO,' Michael Moore's new movie, will rip the band-aid off America's health care industry. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in just one week and opening across the U.S. on June 29th, 'SiCKO' will expose the corporations that place profit before care and the politicians who care only about money. Our health care system is broken and, all too often, deadly. The efforts of the Bush Administration to conduct a politically motivated investigation of Michael Moore and 'SiCKO' will not stop us from making sure the American people see this film.

On September 11, 2001 this country was attacked. Thousands of Americans responded with heroism and courage, toiling for days, weeks and months in the ruins at Ground Zero. These 9/11 first responders risked their lives searching for survivors, recovering bodies, and clearing away toxic rubble. Now, many of these heroes face serious health issues -- and far too many of them are not receiving the care they need and deserve. President Bush and the Bush Administration should be spending their time trying to help these heroes get health care instead of abusing the legal process to advance a political agenda.

Yes he is needed to voice out again !