Obama administration overreaches in demand for personal data
This effort ought to be stopped dead in its tracks. The answer should be “NO,” “hell no,” or “No, and don’t you dare ask for it again”:
The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual’s Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.
The administration wants to add just four words — “electronic communication transactional records” — to a list of items that the law says the FBI may demand without a judge’s approval. Government lawyers say this category of information includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail; the times and dates e-mail was sent and received; and possibly a user’s browser history. It does not include, the lawyers hasten to point out, the “content” of e-mail or other Internet communication.
But what officials portray as a technical clarification designed to remedy a legal ambiguity strikes industry lawyers and privacy advocates as an expansion of the power the government wields through so-called national security letters. These missives, which can be issued by an FBI field office on its own authority, require the recipient to provide the requested information and to keep the request secret. They are the mechanism the government would use to obtain the electronic records.
If the federal government has a good reason to need such information, it can explain those reasons to a judge. “National security letters” are already widely overused as a means of acquiring personal information without a judicial order. As the Post story points out, “The Justice Department issued 192,500 national security letters from 2003 to 2006, according to a 2008 inspector general report, which did not indicate how many were demands for Internet records. A 2007 IG report found numerous possible violations of FBI regulations, including the issuance of NSLs without having an approved investigation to justify the request.”
The type of authority sought by the Obama administration would allow it to conduct warrantless searches that are forbidden under the Fourth Amendment, and our Founding Fathers would clearly recognize it as an unacceptable encroachment of government power on the individual.
That is, once you explained to them about what a browser is, and what emails are.
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288 comments Add your comment
Jose
July 29th, 2010
10:18 am
Saul Good, once again, Palin-Handel would be better then what we have. At this point, Pitt-Jolie would be better…now that is stating how bad a shape we are in.
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:18 am
RW – “Yes, because making sure the facts are all in before allowing someone to be forced into death by starvation is just so wrong.”
you’re right – what would doctors know after 15 years of taking care of her …
RW-(the original)
July 29th, 2010
10:19 am
Just for giggles see if any of you can get amvet to tell you in advance which races will count in his phony numbers game for the 2010 elections.
Disgusted
July 29th, 2010
10:19 am
I think her best response should be; The “Weekly Reader”… it’s right on both of their comprehension levels… well I at least HOPE it is!
Oh, c’mon! A simple response of “The Bible” will lock up 96% of the redneck vote.
barking frog
July 29th, 2010
10:19 am
USinUK;I don’t think Terry Schiavo can help the democrats in 2012.
jewcowboy
July 29th, 2010
10:19 am
@@,
“Obviously it doesn’t. It’s all in good fun, right?”
Considering there were thousands of emails in that listserv thread, cherry picking a dozen or so email without the context of the previous ones might lead one to a spurious conclusion…look at the meandering nature of this blog and threads created as an example.
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:21 am
barking – “USinUK;I don’t think Terry Schiavo can help the democrats in 2012″
if Jebby is on the ticket, it sure as hell isn’t going to help the GOP
Bosch
July 29th, 2010
10:22 am
Kamchak,
Did you go to the game? How was it?
AmVet
July 29th, 2010
10:22 am
Easy ballerina, United States Congress, governorships and the White House.
This ain’t rocket science. But then again, considering the level of self imposed ignorance by the apologists…
ken R
July 29th, 2010
10:23 am
Usink, you still didn’t get it right, please read the law.
Jewcowboy, I just went to facebook and guess what, I got asked if I wanted to get a great deal on a product in Cumming Ga. are you worried about Facebook also? and if Facebook, Google, Yahoo and everyone else can looky look then why not the Feds?
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:23 am
I’m wondering how I get onto the “list” our government can read…
Perhaps I should send out a few emails later and instead of calling each of my friends by their names…I’ll start by saying:
Hello Accchhhkmed!
Hi Omar!
Abdul…I’ve not heard from you for a while!
Habib…dude where have you been?
Taj, thanks for those pics! Imagine what they look like when they take off their Burkas!
Mahboobullah, Glad to hear you had a nice time in Syria!
Hey…maybe I just got on the list!
Jay…let us know when the guys show up with their sun glasses and dark suits. Feel free to give them my IP!
TaxPayer
July 29th, 2010
10:23 am
What is it with that Bush klan. Do they run for office just to show how easy it is to buy an election by conning their constituency over the airwaves. Surely there is some sort of side bet with a Kennedy or a Murdoch or someone. Something to make it all worthwhile.
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:24 am
Jose… yup…you’re right…that would be “BETTER”…because just WHAT was the plan either of them have said we need to do to create jobs again? I forgot…feel free to refresh us.
Thanks!
AmVet
July 29th, 2010
10:24 am
Regarding the con frauds who want to implemtn Ronnie’s dream of BIG, BIG, BIG government,15 years of direct doctor care means nothing compared to the vastly superior skills of Bill Frist and his remote diagnosis.
Geez…
You liberals sure are dumb.
Normal
July 29th, 2010
10:26 am
While I agree that the Independants are critical for the elections, a true Independant isn’t buying what the GOP is selling. Independant thinkers know that the mantra, “tax cuts are manna from Heaven” is a red flag and show a lack of common sense. I believe that the Independants will have no choice but to flock back to the Democrats, or not vote at all….and that will never happen.
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:26 am
Ken R – you do realize that you signed a TOS agreement with facebook that said you ALLOW them access to all your info, don’t you?
did you sign the same agreement with the Feds?
neo-Carlinist
July 29th, 2010
10:27 am
Big D, do you have children or grandchildren? ever seen The Penguins of Madagascar? “I don’t want excuses; I want results!” as stated, this type of stuff has been going on for years, and it didn’t healp prevent the 9/11 attacks (remember the FBI “interest” in Mousai’s laptop? We had all kinds of data on the 9/11 hijackers; inlcluding several on Federal “watch” lists, and nobody “watched”? oh, and I am OK with “watching” foreign nationals, but how does snooping on Americans benefit “the war on terrorism”? Here’s the answer: IT DOESN’T. what it does is, help the government in it’s “war” on Americans.
stands for decibels
July 29th, 2010
10:27 am
Ok, I’m back to this time-suck for a little while.
In case anyone’s forgotten what an utter public relations disaster the Schaivo case was for those trying to intervene:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PollVault/story?id=599622&page=1
a lopsided 67 percent-19 percent, most think the elected officials trying to keep Schiavo alive are doing so more for political advantage than out of concern for her or for the principles involved.
it got worse:
Fifty-four percent of conservatives support removal of Schiavo’s feeding tube, compared with seven in 10 moderates and liberals.
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:29 am
dB … 10:27 – Palin/Bush 2012, babbeeeee!!!
barking frog
July 29th, 2010
10:29 am
Taxpayer 10:23; Kennedy-1;Bush-2.
@@
July 29th, 2010
10:29 am
cowboy:
look at the meandering nature of this blog
It’s one of the reasons I don’t visit here as often. Mindless meanderings hold no interest for me.
Jose
July 29th, 2010
10:30 am
Their plan is simple, you have to make sure small business can hire people like you and me with not regulating the sh*t out of them. You have to make sure that the tax cuts stay current and do NOT increse so that small business owners have money to hire. Now that is one small part of their plan to get the economy going and I can not list everything because there is not enough time. Now Saul, how is that Hope & Change going? 9.5% unemployment, trillions of dollars debt, a war that is not going well and the country devided more then ever. Great plan by the dems so far Saul Good….great plan.
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:31 am
AmVet: “Bill Frist and his remote diagnosis.”
I forgot about that!
I was wondering if I can go to Med school by simply watching videos…blurry ones… I’m pretty sure that’s the way Broun got his medical degree.
neo-Carlinist
July 29th, 2010
10:31 am
as we speak, NJ governor Chris Christie is being unofficially vetted for a run in 2012. the key is, which GOP is doing the vetting (paleo-con wing, or neo-con wing). Christie’s track record as governor suggests he’s more paleo-con, but he made his bones in the GOP as a Karl Rove protege and “W” lackey; so the GOP needs to see if such connections are an asset or liability. ditto his “faith” (Catholic his whole life, not the Newt Gingerich variety).
jewcowboy
July 29th, 2010
10:33 am
ken R,
“I got asked if I wanted to get a great deal on a product in Cumming Ga. are you worried about Facebook also? and if Facebook, Google, Yahoo and everyone else can looky look then why not the Feds?”
And did you click “yes” when you were presented with their privacy policy? There is a difference from opting into having your information sent in exchange for using a product and the gov’t intruding without your permission…
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:33 am
AmVet and Saul – I had forgotten about that, too … but I did appreciate his humble acknowledgement of how wrong he was when they did the post-mortem and found that her brain had atrophied to 1/2 the size of a normal brain …
… oh. wait …
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:33 am
Jose…my wife owns a small business…care to explain the “regulations” that Obama has bestowed upon her?
By the way… Jose…feel free to explain JUST how many jobs those tax cuts created…
Danks
Kamchak
July 29th, 2010
10:34 am
Bosch
I didn’t go either as I was a the Beat game in Kennesaw last night.
Three game winning streak.
Wooooooooooo!
jewcowboy
July 29th, 2010
10:34 am
Jose,
“he is going to lose some dem votes ”
Of course he is…I just don’t think this is the issue that will send Ind pendents running into the closed ranks of the Republican Party.
stands for decibels
July 29th, 2010
10:35 am
I did appreciate his humble acknowledgement of how wrong he was when they did the post-mortem and found that her brain had atrophied to 1/2 the size of a normal brain …
you had me going there for a moment.
stands for decibels
July 29th, 2010
10:35 am
Jose, rhymes with “LA”. Coincidence?
barking frog
July 29th, 2010
10:36 am
Is Jay the new DEAL? demo to repub to maintain his integrity?
@@
July 29th, 2010
10:36 am
SOAB!!!!! They killed both of ‘em.
The body of a second U.S. sailor who went missing in Afghanistan last week has been recovered, a U.S. defense official said on Thursday.
stands for decibels
July 29th, 2010
10:36 am
Now Saul, how is that Hope & Change going? 9.5% unemployment
since you bring it up:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/business/economy/28bailout.html?_r=4&refsite=twitter
two leading economists wielding complex quantitative models say that assertion can be empirically proved.
In a new paper, the economists argue that without the Wall Street bailout, the bank stress tests, the emergency lending and asset purchases by the Federal Reserve, and the Obama administration’s fiscal stimulus program, the nation’s gross domestic product would be about 6.5 percent lower this year.
In addition, there would be about 8.5 million fewer jobs, on top of the more than 8 million already lost; and the economy would be experiencing deflation, instead of low inflation.
The paper, by Alan S. Blinder, a Princeton professor and former vice chairman of the Fed, and Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, represents a first stab at comprehensively estimating the effects of the economic policy responses of the last few years.
“While the effectiveness of any individual element certainly can be debated, there is little doubt that in total, the policy response was highly effective,” they write.
You’re welcome.
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:36 am
neo-Carlinist … let’s not forget… he’s a NORTHEAST Republican… I just read something the other day talking about those “pesky” northeast republicans who are not REAL republicans…they’re not to be trusted… I mean look at Mitt and his Magic Underpants… he just can’t swing the votes needed in the talibangelical states.
AmVet
July 29th, 2010
10:37 am
BTW, Mr. Bookman for the umpteenth time, I’m canceling my subscription to the AJC, because all you do is tear down President Obama and liberals!
LOL.
But being fair and balanced, I must confess that I see far fewer of those moronic drive bys than I used to.
And from the Rhetorical Questions Department:
Did unemployed cons advocate against that legislation extending their unemployment benefits to 99 weeks?
Yeah, riiiight…
Jose
July 29th, 2010
10:37 am
Decibels, if I didn’t know better I would say you are a racist democrat. I didn’t think there were any of you left after the ’60’s culture.
neo-Carlinist
July 29th, 2010
10:39 am
Kamchack and Bosch, please stop discussing that socialist sport, favored by Latinos (and lager-soused hooligans from across the pond). have you not been reading this blog? the ‘net has ears and your interest in said un-American passtime will compel someone from DHS to request “your papers”.
jewcowboy
July 29th, 2010
10:39 am
neo-Carlinist,
“NJ governor Chris Christie is being unofficially vetted for a run in 2012.”
Sorry…in the age we live in…no overweight person will ever be elected to the highest office…
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:40 am
dB – they’re just book-learned economists … what do they know … they’ve never run a BIZNESS
stands for decibels
July 29th, 2010
10:40 am
Is Jay the new DEAL? demo to repub to maintain his integrity?
Yeppers, and I’m giving Bookman a hand tossing that illegal alien mulatto under the bus. We’re soooo over the guy.
Chant along…GOPee is Good for Me!
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:41 am
stands….you’re posting something about “predictions”….how about the “prediction” that we’d be greeted with roses… and that oil would pay for the war in Iraq…not the Trillion dollars + we’ve spent there.
Obama and his team plugged the hole they were handed that was gushing a million times worse compared to the BP fiasco in the gulf. One can’t stop a leak until the plug the hole…
Yup….more and more tax cuts… hey… I mean…how would THAT add to the deficit?
Jose
July 29th, 2010
10:41 am
Jew, the independents are leaving Obama for the reasons they voted for him. He promised an open administration. Remember, put bills on line first so the public could see them before they vote on them? The voted for him because he said unemployment would not go over 8.5%. They voted for him because he promised to bring the country together. They are leaving because he is doing the opposite of what he said. He needs them or it’s ballgame.
Big D
July 29th, 2010
10:42 am
Hey Neo,
Yes, I have both. To tell you the truth I am very torn with both philosophies, because I was on the other side of the intell fence many years ago in Central America. We can all now sit and play arm chair quarterback because it will not be our responsibility when the interception occurs. Believe me I don’t want the Feds having anymore power than they have , but I don’t want to get on a plane and feel it disintegrate around me either. I believe we should put time limits on any type of personal information gathering.
ty webb
July 29th, 2010
10:42 am
SFD,
a “hand tossing”? really?
RW-(the original)
July 29th, 2010
10:43 am
Well then name caller, the GOP had to have won at least 170 some odd races in 2008 House elections alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
you’re right – what would doctors know after 15 years of taking care of her
Of course the question in question was whether she had really made an end of life declaration, but don’t let the facts get in the way of a good yarn.
I wouldn’t be so quick to empower a death panel to make these decisions based on brain wave activity if I were you morning crew members though. Your numbers would shrink rapidly.
Later
Jose
July 29th, 2010
10:43 am
So Saul, how does increasing taxes and not cut spending not add to the defecit? If you were broke, would a financial advisor tell you to spend your way out of your debt? It’s common sense and DC don’t have any and were are paying for it.
lynn ehrlicher
July 29th, 2010
10:44 am
I agree with Jay about this one. Just because the Bush administration gutted civil liberties and intruded on American’s privacy in the name of “fighting terror” doesn’t give Obama the freedom to do so. The administration is taking advantage of precedent set by Bush, and we elected Obama to be different in all respects from Bush.
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:44 am
ty – I’m not laughing. I’m not. really I’m not.
ty webb
July 29th, 2010
10:46 am
UsinUK,
and don’t get me started with Saul’s “plugging of holes”.
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:47 am
“Of course the question in question was whether she had really made an end of life declaration, but don’t let the facts get in the way of a good yarn.”
RW – if she wasn’t in a vegetative state in the first place, the end of life declaraton would be moot – her parents argued that she wasn’t (thus, the video “evidence”)
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:47 am
USinUK @10:33 am
There was a NY times article about that whole fiasco not too long ago… it was mostly an interview with one of the nurses who cared for her for a long time. tragic… tragic in how the right “used” her.
One of Bush’s highlights in his 8 years… taking time off his vacation to go back to DC to sign that bill… yet during Katrina he took a few days before bothering to visit…
neo-Carlinist
July 29th, 2010
10:48 am
Saul, it is an interesting scenario. Christie was dismissed by the neos as RINO, but now that he’s won, and seems to be gaining traction, they want to claim him as their own (see: Tea Party). I think the bottom line will be whether or not he allows Rove et al to implant the micro chip in his brain, as W and Palin did. and therein lies the rub; as governor, Christie appears to be doing “what’s best for NJ” as opposed to “what’s best for the GOP” and as we know, the President of the United States cannot be bothered with “upholding and defending the Constitution” when said document contradicts the neo-con agenda. and before the neo-cons jump on my case, the neo-libs have an agenda as well, they just don’t use a microchip. neo-libs are categorically “organic” so they reject technology in favor or “feelings”.
barking frog
July 29th, 2010
10:48 am
US;ty; Excellent.
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:49 am
Jose: “So Saul, how does increasing taxes and not cut spending not add to the defecit?”
Go read about the Great Depression and the spending that ended it…
Let me ask…have YOUR taxes increased? If so… show me/us here.
Jose
July 29th, 2010
10:49 am
You are right Lynn, he was voted as the opposite of Bush. Usually the opposite of bad is good however, he has turned out to be worse and this is from a Republican who admits Bush was not the best. Obama is making him look better every week though. Amazing!
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
10:50 am
Neo: “Christie was dismissed by the neos as RINO, but now that he’s won, and seems to be gaining traction, they want to claim him as their own (see: Tea Party). I think the bottom line will be whether or not he allows Rove et al to implant the micro chip in his brain, as W and Palin did. and therein lies the rub; as governor, Christie appears to be doing “what’s best for NJ” as opposed to “what’s best for the GOP” and as we know, the President of the United States cannot be bothered with “upholding and defending the Constitution” when said document contradicts the neo-con agenda”
All great points…well said…Bravo!
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
10:50 am
Saul – I remember a video on the Daily Show that showed the host of GOP congress critters in the well talking about “Terry” this and “Terry” that, like they were all good friends with her and knew her well.
disGRACEful.
Jose
July 29th, 2010
10:52 am
Saul, we got out of the great depression because of WW II. Go study your history before you make observations like that. And yes, everyone working had tax increases for the last 20 years. Some were through federal, some through state. Damn, do you not look at your pay stub? Go back and study the great depression and ten get back to me about Roosevelt’s policies and how WW II was the fix all for the economy.
jewcowboy
July 29th, 2010
10:54 am
Jose,
“He promised an open administration.”
It is open…It’s opening your email.
“Remember, put bills on line first so the public could see them before they vote on them?”
You can always see them…and they are posted online…he broke his promise by not allowing 5 full days of public comment before acting upon them.
“The voted for him because he said unemployment would not go over 8.5%.”
Please show me where he said that…
“hey voted for him because he promised to bring the country together.”
It takes two to dance unless you’re Billy Idol.
“They are leaving because he is doing the opposite of what he said.”
OR how much they read into what he said to fit what they wanted to hear.
“He needs them or it’s ballgame.”
I would certainly agree.
Normal
July 29th, 2010
10:55 am
@@
At least they are coming home now…how many more?
roughrider
July 29th, 2010
10:56 am
One of the reasons I voted for Obama was Bush’s ” Patriot Act.” Now it seems that Obama is wanting to expand that so he doesn’t get my vote next time.
jewcowboy
July 29th, 2010
10:57 am
neo-Carlinist,
“Christie appears to be doing “what’s best for NJ” ”
Then why hasn’t he made that Real Housewives of New Jersey show illegal?
neo-Carlinist
July 29th, 2010
11:01 am
Big D, I don’t want to die, either, but as I suspect your previous life has taught you, we the People don’t get to make that call. in addition, the very nature of intel work suggests that truly successful ops “never occurred”. ergo, the NSA, et al have always snooped and will continue to snoop. the real question is; why didn’t somebody act on the pre-9/11 intel? was it a case of not wanting the bad guys to know we were onto them, in search of a “bigger fish”, or, was it just institutional failure due to inter-agency turf wars, etc., OR was it ignored because we needed an excuse to invade Iraq? I freely admit I don’t know the answer, but any of these scenarios is plausible in my book. above all else we need “results” and accountability from our intel infrastructure, but as stated, to acheive it may comprimise the mission. so, I’ll keep my shoes on at the airport, and send whatever emails I like.
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
11:03 am
“Then why hasn’t he made that Real Housewives of New Jersey show illegal?”
Funny!
Big D
July 29th, 2010
11:05 am
Jose,
I agree with your analysis of WWII and the reason we continued to prosper was that we had a manufacturing base…we sold products..not services. You can only sell services for so long to each other. We will will need to get back to a manufacturing base, cut spending and institute the consumption tax. Then we will know prosperity again.
AmVet
July 29th, 2010
11:06 am
lynn, great point, but….
I am quite amazed that anybody fell for the Hope & Change rhetoric. I’m no polisci major, no pundit, not even an uber-informed talking head, but seriously!
BHO was *clearly* just another very corporate-friendly Republican-lite.
During his campaign did he say anything about holding corporations to the rule of law? Even with the corporate destruction of capitalism that culminated in that September 2008 inevitable implosion raging on around him? (The one Dick Cheney said no one saw coming.)
Did he say he was going to implement widespread prosecutions of the banksters and casino capitalists? And seek economic justice and recompense for the innocent victims?
Did he say enough is enough, time to reign in the endless giveaways, handouts, bailouts and subsidies to the multi-nationals? To the tune of over $350,000,000,000.00 every single year?
Did he advocate for single payer health care, instead of the travesty that he signed into law that puts even more dirty money into the corrupt industries that kill Americans?
Did he promote a revenue-neutral carbon tax instead of the Big Oil & Coal giveaway called Cap & Trade?
Did he strenuously promote a real living wage?
Did he have ANY kind of plan for the bottom 100,000,000 Americans.
He did not.
And that is why I told my lib friends back in the fall of 08, prepare to be greatly disappointed. He is another GWB in sheep’s clothing. Sadly I was correct. And most of the more cogent would now agree.
And s for the myopic people who voted for the Bush Cabal because they thought he was a conservative (Good gawd, peeps! How dumb can you be?) were equally as uninformed and manipulatable regarding BHO’s “liberalism”…
neo-Carlinist
July 29th, 2010
11:06 am
jewcowboy, but he did pan “Jersey Shore” as “…a bunch of New Yorkers” and “not reflective of NJ”
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
11:06 am
Jose….YUP..WWII…and what happened? DID we CUT TAXES or SPEND A MASSIVE amount fighting the war? I mean who cuts taxes with two wars going on…BTW…the DEFICIT that came from WWII was HUGE… and every President after was working on paying it off…well until Reagan say “F” that…
Jose…show me how we CUT taxes during WWII.
Thanks again for playing.
Bosch
July 29th, 2010
11:06 am
neo-Carlinist
RE: Soccer/futbol
Me love me some socialist football!
HDB
July 29th, 2010
11:07 am
ken R July 29th, 2010
9:59 am
Usink,
Please read the AZ law, the police cannot stop anyone and ask them for their papers, they can only do this if they are caught breaking the law.
Not true…..here’s SB 1070:
B. For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of this state or a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person, except if the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation.
Now…who determines “lawful contact”? THE COPS!! The police have unfettered power to fabricate ANY reason to create lawful contact!! The Arizona training tape that was shown last night on CNN stataed that some of the following reasons that someone could be “investigated”: 1) the way they are dressed; 2) an accent; 3) improper usage of the English language; 4) number of occupants in a car! This allows the police to pull up to someone waiting for a bus/sitting on a porch/pulling over to the side of the road to use the cell phone…whatever….make contact, and ask for identification!! Remember Amadou Diallo and Kathryn Johnston!!
Bosch
July 29th, 2010
11:08 am
Kamchak,
That’s good news! I have a hooligan nephew going to Kennesaw, and I’ve asked him several times about the team, but unfortunately, my poor departed mother knew more about the game than he.
Big D
July 29th, 2010
11:11 am
Neo,
Your right our problem then was obviously inter agency intel was the problem. It’s ancient history now, but you can thank Jima Cata for the total ruin of our in the field intel gathering and it has led to where we are now. he destroyed operations that had been in place since the 30’s.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 29th, 2010
11:12 am
Remember Amadou Diallo and Kathryn Johnston!!
Picky, picky, picky! Anybody can make a little mistake now and then.
Commie!
Scout
July 29th, 2010
11:16 am
Presidential:
“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Attorney General:
‘I do solemnly swear that I will support and
defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to
the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So
help me God.’
Will someone please tell me based on the above two oaths how President Obama and Attorney General Holder get to pick and choose which federal laws are enforced ?
stands for decibels
July 29th, 2010
11:17 am
a “hand tossing”? really?
I tip my hat to you, sir.
ken R
July 29th, 2010
11:21 am
Jewcowboy,
I didn’t click yes, however they still knew where I shop and what products I look at. I don’t feel that it’s that much different than what the feds want, I am a conservative who has voted for both parties all my life and I still don’t like either one. If there are people on here or anywhere that think their party is Manna from Heaven then they must be drinking some of Jay’s LSD.
USinUK,
I expect the feds to do what’s right to keep me and our country safe, like all things overindulgence isn’t good for anyone.
David S
July 29th, 2010
11:22 am
NOW you are complaining about executive overreach! You have been asleep at the wheel for far too long. Too little too late Jay. Go back to sleep the constitution is dead. Nothing to see here now. Just a rotting totalitarian empire.
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
11:23 am
HDB…all the “experts” never read the bill…reminds me of the Health Care Bill… all the “know-it-alls” who never read any of it…but somehow know the “talking points” about ALL of it…the very one’s they heard on Foxy News and from Rush, etc….
USinUK
July 29th, 2010
11:24 am
ken – “I expect the feds to do what’s right to keep me and our country safe”
okay. i’ll bite: how on EARTH does going before a judge to justify rifling through one’s e-mail make us less safe?
HDB
July 29th, 2010
11:32 am
Saul Good July 29th, 2010
11:23 am
As soon as the law came out…I saved a copy of it, read it…and asked one simple question: What if it were me??? Too many here discount “driving while black”….but many know it’s a truism that if you don’t LOOK like the majority, the majority wants to look at YOU!!
barking frog
July 29th, 2010
11:34 am
O.K. I’m convinced. the mama grizzlies have eaten the bushes. Obama’s
only hope. Palin-Quayle 2012.
Normal
July 29th, 2010
11:37 am
AmVet
July 29th, 2010
11:06 am
lynn, great point, but….
I am quite amazed that anybody fell for the Hope & Change rhetoric. I’m no polisci major, no pundit, not even an uber-informed talking head, but seriously!
After the previous eight years, I was like a drowning man and I clutched the first straw I could find (hope and change)…but now that I’m on the shore, I’m beginning to wish I had drowned…
neo-Carlinist
July 29th, 2010
11:37 am
Big D, I don’t think you can lay all of this on Carter. as you note, the ’sibling rilvaries’ and outright distrust between the FBI and CIA and NSA and NSC and DIA, et al did far more damage than Carter. In retrospect, I think Carter’s mistake was that he thought it possible to gather intel or run ops with an eye toward the Constitution or ‘the law’. and as stated, the other side is, what I call the “Steven Segal” doomsday scenarion, in which intel assets and agencies use their covert status to operate “Above the Law” or they exploit the inherent secrecy of their work to futher personal financial or partisan political interests (Valerie Plame outing, Iran-Contra, etc.). so, to come full circle, I don’t see any difference between Obama and Bush in terms of personal privacy, because they represent the interests of the government, regardless of motvie or ideology.
barking frog
July 29th, 2010
11:41 am
When changing parties, does a mama grizzly defect in the woods?
laruen
July 29th, 2010
11:42 am
Well to paraphrase the logic of the last administration, if you’ve got nothing to hide what’s the big whoop…
Saul Good
July 29th, 2010
11:45 am
HDB
July 29th, 2010
11:32 am
HDB….head up north on 400…north to Dawson County and Lumpkin County… take a look at who gets pulled over… hispanics are targeted here… truly they are. It was much worse during the building boom when ever single day you’d see white vans with ladders on top pulled over (hispanics)….yet they would turn their blind eye to the “white” guy/gal driving an older model pickup that was simply not road worthy and was littering the road with stuff not tied down in the back.
Worst was… how many times I got pulled over when I had NY plates until I registered my car here in GA. I still owned a house up there and believe it or not…it was much cheaper to keep the car registered there (where you only pay a small fee compared to a TAX..and insurance was cheaper as well)… when I registered that same car here in GA… I’ve yet to get pulled over. True…sad…but true.
A Police State You’d Better Believe In « Wake-up Call
August 2nd, 2010
3:03 pm
[...] in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Jay Bookman observed: “If the federal government has a good reason to need such information, [...]