huac part 2

[Magyar]

So the republicans are/have started their black list again!
Monitoring and violating the privacy of US citizens by the NSA and
keeping "lists" of war protesters without warrants was OK'd by our
fearless leader.


Of course this morning, while dodging anything resembling
an answer ◊◊◊◊◊ was insisting that "this president" has great respect for civil right.

I wonder when we will find out about the list of anti American atheist list being compiled by someone or other in the administration?
That's the only major threat left not listed.

 

[Ed]

This is a troubling thing. On one hand, if the president were a leftie I suspect that other lefties would see the wisdom in collecting data on potential terrorists and would make allowences. On the other, I suspect that GW supporters would do the same. The problem is that the action is entirely understandable and one might, if one trusted the government, make allowences. I somehow doubt that there will be a shread of reasoned discourse on this.

But consider: Suppose there were a real enormity in the US, something big like a nuke or Ricketts being unleashed on a big city. What do you think the odds would be for a constitutional ammendment to curtail liberties for once and for all? To me, the question is would I let the government slide knowing that there are illegalities involved or would I run the risk of having something enshrined in the Constitution because of public outcry over a major event?

Dunno. But one thing is for certain, the old rules don't apply.

 

[Manny]

Now wait a second. James Bamford, in The Puzzle Palace, claimed that NSA has been catching phone calls where one of the parties is overseas for years. And he claimed that way back in 1983. Was he wrong then, or did NSA stop and then start up again, or is this an old story or what?