Richard Miniter stopped by to discuss the NY Times NSA story.
Let’s examine the media myths:
• MYTH: The U.S. government is “spying” on Americans.
Surveillance of suspected terrorists is no more spying than police staking out a crack house is spying. The NSA is targeting only people who have received a phone call or an email from a known al Qaeda terrorist. People who merely oppose the Bush administration and are not in contact with terrorist groups have not had their phones tapped.
• MYTH: The Bush Admin is violating the rights of “Americans.” Very few of the 300 people targeted for surveillance by the NSA are actually U.S. citizens. The overwhelming majority are what lawyers call “U.S. persons,” a catchall term that includes legal and illegal residents of the United States.
• MYTH: The NSA surveillance is unprecedented and illegal.
Actually, the FBI and the CIA have been using similar surveillance techniques against mobsters and spies for the past 30 years. Following the 911 attacks, these two agencies set their sights on terrorists inside the United States. To date, more than 600 suspects have been arrested and two attacks inside the U.S. have been thwarted. As for the surveillance being “illegal” there is little basis for this view. The President has a long established constitutional right (recently reaffirmed by the US Supreme Court in 1972) to surveil persons who are a threat to national security. The 1978 FIFA Act, which provided a secret court to issue warrants in national security cases, does not limit the President’s constitutional powers.
posted by Pat Campbell @ 9:06 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
First, you blame "the media". In reality, the so called "liberal" New York Times hid the truth of this spying scandal for a year out of tender considerations for the Bush administration. Extremely unprofessional to hide a potential scoop.
So-called myth 1: as George W. Bush himself, no less, stated before: spying IS spying. If a judge is not involved, it is. And have you ever heard about receiving e-mails from people you don't know and never asked for. You should know, as it is called spam, practiced by Bush crony corporation Gator and others.
"Myth" 2: a red herring. Some ARE, as you conceed, US citizens. The constitutional rights of non citizen residents should also not be violated. Or do you agree with George W. Bush, who swore loyalty to the US Constitution, but now says: "It is just a goddamned piece of paper"?
"Myth" 3: If it is true that the law was broken before, it does not make it right to do it now. If Johnny was a serial killer or rapist in 1960, it does not protect Billy from prosecution for being a serial killer or rapist in 2005. Actually, the FBI's 1960s COINTELPRO activities were condemned by the US Congress.
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