Organizing for America | Posts with the tag wiretapping

Obama Administration quietly expands Bush's legal defense of wiretapping program

By Jason M. Christos - Apr 7th, 2009 at 10:51 pm EDT

John Byrne
Published: Tuesday April 7, 2009

from http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_Administration_quietly_expands_Bushs_legal_0407.html

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...READ MORE HERE http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_Administration_quietly_expands_Bushs_legal_0407.html

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OBAMA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TOWS THE LINE ON SECRECY.

By CJC - Apr 7th, 2009 at 6:02 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Everyone should be outraged about this. Spread this far and wide, contact Obama and your local congressmen and women, etc. This is NOT acceptable behavior from the Obama administration. I worked very hard to get Obama elected, but not so his administration could do things like this:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/06/obama/index.html

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Stop Illegal Wiretapping by government officials and their agents

By Sadiqa from New York, NY - Feb 1st, 2009 at 3:05 pm EST

President Obama;

Please, I am begging you to stop the wiretapping of American citizens. This power bestowed on law enforcement is being used to block phonecalls, slander and blacklist citizens and isolate these victims from the larger society. Combating terrorism is not breaking in on a phone call and telling a potential employer not to hire someone by committing harassment and slander. Law enforcement and agents thereof are stalking and denying citizens constiutional rights. It's the "us against them" taken to the extreme. Due process and the Fourth Admendment is being trampled on with this illegal campaign against citizens. It's McCarthyism on steriods.

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New Eavesdropping Rules Take Effect

By ♫Parodee♫ - Jul 14th, 2008 at 1:13 pm EDT

Also listed in: Bush Retirement Party | The Lighter Side

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Ex-NYT correspondent: FISA update is ‘giant step toward fascism’

By Choice Voter - Jul 12th, 2008 at 3:33 pm EDT

http://www.truthnews.us/?p=2285

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Day 2

By Matthew from Atlanta, GA - Jul 10th, 2008 at 12:57 pm EDT

I remain sickened that he would violate the very principles of what once ensured our freedom. Sickened that all of the rhetoric about change was nothing but that, rhetoric.

A vote speaks far louder than any of his words, and his vote to approve of illegally spying on Americans speaks a sickening truth to me. I'm not kidding when I say that this country is doomed when people have no better choices than this to elect to office.

Politicians act as though the nation would collapse if they were actually honest about something, and it's collapsing because of that.

Anyone in a foreign country wanting to help me out with citizenship, I'm ready to get married...it has been sickening to be an american for the last ten years, and it's only getting more so, and Obama's not going to change a damn thing, as he ably demonstrated yesterday.

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Madeline Albright? thaaats nooot chaaange we can beeeleeive iiiin..

By Choice Voter - Jul 9th, 2008 at 8:54 pm EDT

A truly worrisome thing, the way Obama's adviser staff is looking to turn out as.. as I type, an excellent interview is being done on KPFK's generally-excellent show "Beneath the Surface with Jerry Quickley" on this topic, which is worth recommending for the mp3player of one and all:

Here's the podcast link to Beneath the Surface on KPFK.. the interview starts 40 minutes into the 9 July edition: http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/xml/bts_jerry.xml

(or, on can peruse and enjoy their entire archive, working backwards thru time via http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/ )

Robert Parry is a veteran journalist, who broke the Iran-Contra story back in the 80s. Now running his own operation after getting the shaft by MSM over the years.. his well-worthwhile site http://www.consortiumnews.com now has these very pertinent pieces you ought check out:

Ellsberg Warns about Wiretap Bill
Daniel Ellsberg, the famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower, objects to expected Senate passage of a new wiretap law. July 9, 2008

Will the Democrats Ever Learn?
Democratic leaders -- and Barack Obama -- appear poised to let George W. Bush off the hook on his warrantless wiretaps without even letting the American people know what abuses were committed. July 8, 2008

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Wiretapping

By Matthew from Atlanta, GA - Jul 9th, 2008 at 8:29 pm EDT

Senator Obama,

I am now withholding my vote in the election, as I refuse to support anyone who could support the fascist rubbish you approved of today. Illegal wiretapping should be penalized, not embraced, and if you promise change, why were you afraid to vote for it today?

I hate this farce of a country more every day. I'm ashamed to be an american, and I wish I could get citizenship nearly anywhere else on earth.

The Constitution has been trampled, environmental law has been trampled, and everything that once made this country decent has been trampled. And not just by the bush administration, but by the people and by their elected representatives and by the greedy, dishonest corporate pigs.

Yes, I want change--change in citizenship. Care to help me?

Sincerely, very much so,

Matthew Downing

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Broken Promise on FISA

By Ted Carmichael - Jul 9th, 2008 at 4:30 pm EDT

Also listed in: Academics for Obama | NC for Obama | President Obama, Please Get FISA Right

To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.

That was the statement issued by the Obama campaign late last year. Pretty clear? For the record, today Senator Obama voted against the filibuster, and then voted for the bill that has retroactive immunity.

It's hard to know what to say, isn't it? Obama will be a better president - by far - than either Bush or McCain. I still believe that. And I still believe he would be a better president than Hillary Clinton, although it is worth noting that Senator Clinton kept her promise: she voted both for the filibuster and against this horrible bill.

Some pundits are saying that Obama and his advisors didn't expect so much resistance on this issue, that they didn't realize how important it is to many thousands of Americans. But for me, it's deeper than that. The most disheartening aspect of Senator Obama's definitive reversal on this issue is that ... well, it turns out that it just isn't important to Barack Obama.

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Judge Reject's Bush's Wiretapping

By Lucia - Team Coordinator for OBAMAWOOD - Jul 5th, 2008 at 12:06 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

ews Judge Rejects Bush's View on Wiretaps Thursday 03 July 2008 » by: Eric Lichtblau, The New York Times photo A federal judge ruled that Bush's views on wiretapping were beyond the constitutional authority of the president. (Photo: ABC News) Washington - A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the "exclusive" means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government's claim that the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law. The judge, Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge for the Northern District of California, made his findings in a ruling on a lawsuit brought by an Oregon charity. The group says it has evidence of an illegal wiretap used against it by the National Security Agency under the secret surveillance program established by President Bush after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Justice Department has tried for more than two years to kill the lawsuit, saying any surveillance of the charity or other entities was a "state secret" and citing the president's constitutional power as commander in chief to order wiretaps without a warrant from a court under the agency's program. But Judge Walker, who was appointed to the bench by former President George Bush, rejected those central claims in his 56-page ruling. He said the rules for surveillance were clearly established by Congress in 1978 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires the government to get a warrant from a secret court. "Congress appears clearly to have intended to - and did - establish the exclusive means for foreign intelligence activities to be conducted," the judge wrote. "Whatever power the executive may otherwise have had in this regard, FISA limits the power of the executive branch to conduct such activities and it limits the executive branch's authority to assert the state secrets privilege in response to challenges to the legality of its foreign intelligence surveillance activities." Judge Walker's voice carries extra weight because all the lawsuits involving telephone companies that took part in the N.S.A. program have been consolidated and are being heard in his court. Jon Eisenberg, a lawyer for Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, the plaintiff in the case, said the legal issues Judge Walker's ruling raised were significant. "He's saying FISA makes the rules and the president is bound by those rules," Mr. Eisenberg said. A Justice Department official said the department was reviewing the opinion late Wednesday and would consider its options. Officials at Al-Haramain say they were mistakenly given a government document revealing the N.S.A. operation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation demanded the document back, and Judge Walker's ruling made it more difficult for Al-Haramain to use what it claims to have seen . But he refused to throw out the lawsuit, giving the charity's lawyers 30 days to restructure their claim. "We still have our foot in the door," Mr. Eisenberg said. "The clock is a minute to midnight, but we've been there before and survived." The ruling comes as the Senate is overhauling the foreign intelligence law. The measure would reaffirm FISA as the exclusive means for the president to order wiretaps through court warrants, but it would also provide legal immunity to phone companies involved in the eavesdropping program. A vote could come Tuesday. The immunity issue would not directly affect this lawsuit because Al-Haramain is suing the government, not the phone companies. But the nearly 40 other lawsuits against phone companies that Judge Walker is overseeing would almost certainly have to be dismissed if immunity is signed into law, legal analysts say.

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Change we're beginning to doubt

By Professor Darwin - Jul 4th, 2008 at 4:39 pm EDT

What is happening to the pledge "Change we can believe in"?

It seems to be slowly fading away, and being replaced by the same old politics we've all come to know and hate.

His promise to try to keep both major parties within public-financing limits for the general election? Abandoned.

Eschewing gold-plated fund-raisers? These days he's on a high-roller hunt. The target price for quality time with the candidate is now more than $30,000 per person.

His vow to filibuster an electronic wiretapping bill if it includes an immunity clause for telecommunications companies? Abandoned.

As was pointed out in a recent NY Times editorial: "The Barack Obama of the primary season used to brag that he would stand before interest groups and tell them tough truths. The new Mr. Obama tells evangelical Christians that he wants to expand President Bush's policy of funneling public money for social spending to religious-based organizations -- a policy that violates the separation of church and state and turns a government function into a charitable donation."

The death penalty and gun control?

Mr. Obama endorsed the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the District of Columbia's gun-control law. Will he be seeking an NRA endorsement next?

And Mr. Obama criticized the Supreme Court's barring the death penalty for crimes that do not involve murder. Say goodbye to any hopes of ending the death penalty nation-wide under his watch, I guess.

Every day Mr. Obama seems more and more like every other two-bit politician that's running for office -- they tell us what we want to hear, initially, then sell us out at the first opportunity.

I'm really becoming disappointed in this guy. It seems now, in retrospect, that perhaps Hillary DID have more balls than Mr. Obama has demonstrated lately.

It's rapidly becoming "Change I'm really starting to Doubt".

How sad...

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FISA: Poisoning the aquifier means no forest and no trees

By BigSean - Jul 4th, 2008 at 12:51 pm EDT

Also listed in: President Obama, Please Get FISA Right | Stop Telecom Immunity

You have neither forest nor trees when you poison the aquifer. The Constitution is that aquifer and this FISA bill is another poison.

Some accuse those who are angry about FISA and immunity of being shortsighted. I disagree. I think that Obama and those who are compromising on this without screaming bloody murder are the ones who are being shortsighted.

I have other points of disagreement with Obama, none of which are dealbreakers. I never expect a 'perfect' candidate, those don't exist. I'm sure Obama's going to do things as President that I disagree with or that piss me off. I'm fine with that and think he'll be the best President we've had in my lifetime.

I don't put public figures on a pedestal, but I don't think it's beyond the realm of reason to hold our candidates to a high standard or to expect them to honor their oaths of office and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.

To my fellow Americans, I ask that you take some time this 4th of July to call your Senate offices and leave messages objecting to FISA and the immunity provision. Ten minutes of work to protect our collective civil liberties is not too much to ask.

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What kind of daft reaction to violations of the law - that show, if anything, only CONTEMPT for the law - is simply passing another law??

By K.Martin - Jul 4th, 2008 at 2:09 am EDT

Also listed in: President Obama, Please Get FISA Right

Foolishness! Pardoning the violation of a civil right can do NOTHING to strengthen it.

Sen. Obama, Haven't you ever heard of "actions speak louder than words"!? The part of the bill you are so taken with does nothing but signal the intent to keep backing up and drawing new lines in the sand after the previous ones have been crossed.

For one who is supposed to be educated in constitutional law, you have an amazing talent for pretending it isn't there; the purported safeguards in this "exclusivity provision" does nothing that the 4th and 14th amendments do not.
When a law is violated, it is enforced in part through enacting the appropriate penalties; merely repeating yourself not only does nothing to help, but sets a bad precedent and emboldens domestic enemies of the constitution. You're just telling them "well, okay; but THIS time we mean it!" It would be a FAR better safeguard for our freedom if we were to prosecute these companies and this president under criminal law. I will donate no more money to your campaign until you WAKE UP!

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A creative solution!!

By Paul from Fort Worth, TX - Jul 3rd, 2008 at 6:40 pm EDT

Also listed in: President Obama, Please Get FISA Right

Passing immunity stops the discovery process. Since Bush has the authority to grant pardons to everyone and every company, our only hope on finding out what really went on is with the civil suits. Democracy requires an informed electorate.

What Senator O'Bama could do would be to sponsor an amendment that provides that the Federal Government will pay any fines levied against the TelCos but that allows the suits to go forward. I still suspect that he is covering for the Democratic leadership (gang of 8 members) who must have given the nod to some pretty crazy stuff.

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Solution: We need the O'Bama (youtube) girl!

By Paul from Fort Worth, TX - Jul 3rd, 2008 at 3:11 pm EDT

Also listed in: President Obama, Please Get FISA Right

Maybe her next music vid could be some current pop hit such as Damaged, or Bleeding Love, with Barak in the background.

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What happened to the Tenth Amendment?

By John from Westport, CT - Jul 3rd, 2008 at 10:59 am EDT

Also listed in: President Obama, Please Get FISA Right

Mr. Obama swept to his party's likely nomination on the winds of people's desire for change in Washington. Unfortunately he is still a Senator and playing Senate games when the nation needs leadership on key issues at a national level.

While it may be uncomfortable for Obama to articulate some issues in this election clearly that go against the collegiality of the Senate it's time for him to recognize that without the collegiality of the American people his campaign will fail.

There is one key issue in my mind that overrides all others: a government that has become the servant of global corporatism. Our government, and our business institutions, must serve of citizens, not oligarchs. Our system of government enables corporations to have a great deal of freedom to seek out their market goals. However, one right that a corporation does not have is the right to be a citizen.

Looking at our U.S. Constitution, its Tenth Amendment states "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." In no place does this say "or corporations." Supreme Court rulings over the years have tried to insinuate that corporations are artificial people. Yet corporations are not citizens. So why are their interests being placed above the freedoms of citizens in this FISA legislation?

I can see that the government may examine phone calls entering and leaving this nation in much the same way that a customs agent may examine both citizens and non-citizens entering and leaving our nation. From this standpoint I do not doubt tht FISA legislation has strengths. But the issue is whether corporations, at the behest of the Bush administration, have acted illegally on a willing basis under existing laws. There's not a normal citizen in the U.S. who would be told, "Oh, don't worry about that law you just broke, we'll change it for you." The U.S. has more people and a higher percentage of people in prison today than any other nation on earth. Yet corporations would rather change the laws to protect them from legal action than to face the consequences that every other American faces.

We're told that we're good Americans who work hard and play by the rules on election years. Yet this FISA action seems to say, to borrow from tax scofflaw Leona Helmsley, "Laws are for little people." Either the law is for all people or we do not have a democracy. Mr. Obama must learn how to frame his campaign as one that will restore the true rule of law to America - for ALL people, including corporate titans who are so used to bending the laws to their will under Bush's lawless regime.

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The reality of FISA

By Mikeystyle - Jul 2nd, 2008 at 9:36 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

There’s a lot of baloney and misinformation being spread about the FISA bill. It does NOT give the telecoms a “get out of jail free” card as some have claimed.

It gives them immunity from CIVIL lawsuits (where they would have to pay money). It does NOT protect them from criminal charges if they’re found to have broken the law.

President Obama could still have the telecoms investigated (by his Attorney General John Edwards perhaps) and prosecute them in federal court.

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I'm taking Your Banner Message Seriously

By Linda from Newark, DE - Jul 2nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm EDT

Also listed in: President Obama, Please Get FISA Right

The message in your banner says, " I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington, I'm asking you to believe in yours." I do believe. And I believe that our ability to change Washington begins with the grassroots effort to change YOUR mind about your intent to vote for a FISA bill with Telecom immunity. VOTE NO on any bill that contains Telecom immunity. Please. The administration will not tell us the truth about its domestic wiretapping policies. The only way to find out even a little bit about the breadth of this program is to allow the court cases to go through the system. And it is so simple. If the Telecoms did nothing wrong, then the law will sort it out. If they allowed illegal wiretapping because they feared losing contracts (as did one major company that would not agree to the White House demands), then that is illegal, the general public was damaged and the law will determine the appropriate punishment. VOTE NO on any bill that contains Telecom immunity. Please.

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History and Future of Government Surveillance

By Dave from El Cerrito, CA - Jul 2nd, 2008 at 7:09 pm EDT

Also listed in: President Obama, Please Get FISA Right

Read more about the history of government wiretapping here and about the delays H.R. 6304 will cause in stopping this illegal program here.

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