The Big, Evil, Demented Plan - Part Two

This WaPo article is about events BEFORE-9/11. BEFORE-9/11, President George W. Bush spied on Americans. BEFORE-9/11, before the so-called “war on terror,” the Bush Administration contacted communication companies and asked them for information about their customers. BEFORE-9/11, Bush was pushing for warrantless surveillance of Americans!

Stram, can't you just hear the gasps, pointing and name calling from Hank and his Anon alias now..??

A former Qwest Communications International executive, appealing a conviction for insider trading, has alleged that the government withdrew opportunities for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars after Qwest refused to participate in an unidentified National Security Agency program that the company thought might be illegal.

Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week.

(snip)

Details about the alleged NSA program have been redacted from the documents, but Nacchio's lawyer said last year that the NSA had approached the company about participating in a warrantless surveillance program to gather information about Americans' phone records.


Not only did the Bush Administration ask Qwest to spy on Americans, it punished the company because it refused to do an illegal act. The company lost "contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars." One wonders whether the inside trading conviction was part of the "punishment" as well.

Now Bush has the audacity to tell Congress to pass a bill that gives immunity to companies that were "patriotic" and complied with the illegal request. Congress should encourage true patriotism, the kind that was shown by Qwest when it refused.

Congress does not even have the information it requested from the Whitehouse. It should do nothing until it gets this information. And then it must produce a law that protects American citizens from warrantless wire tapping.

All his talk about the "war on terror," making us safe at home and fighting for democracy abroad is just that, talk. Killing innocent Iraqi's and the slaughter of our brave soldiers is just his means to continue his evil ways. Of course he can get away with it! Hitler kept Germany afraid too...

Now tell me this isn't an evil, demented plan. Tell me that we should rally behind the evil empire and "allow them to protect us." My only question is... who's going to protect us from them?

The Big, Evil, Demented Plan - Part One

"Everything changed after 9/11."
"Live a clean life and you won't have to worry about spying and wire tapping."
"We aren't giving up liberties, we are being kept safe."

The list of ramblings from the right is much longer. I am going to stop there though, it's starting to make me gag.

I do find this most interesting. Despite the ranting of the afraid, would you believe me if I told you this secret government/wire tapping plan was hatched long before 9/11? Would the right?

I caught an episode of Frontline that made my flesh crawl. It was on the secrecy fixation of Cheney. It told of how he never writes anything down, refrains from email and voicemail. He, like the bad guys in the superhero movies, likes to move in the dark of night, disapear without an trace - leaving no trail to follow.

" they came in, spurred by Dick Cheney, to have an enlarged sense of the presidency, to have a penchant for secrecy, to basically have a view that the Congress, in effect, works for us, not with us; that we're the lead branch, not a co-equal branch. -- David Gergen

On this link, you can also watch the entire episode.... if you dare)

For three decades Vice President Dick Cheney conducted a secretive, behind-closed-doors campaign to give the president virtually unlimited wartime power. Finally, in the aftermath of 9/11, the Justice Department and the White House made a number of controversial legal decisions. Orchestrated by Cheney and his lawyer David Addington, the department interpreted executive power in an expansive and extraordinary way, granting President George W. Bush the power to detain, interrogate, torture, wiretap and spy -- without congressional approval or judicial review.

The downfall of this democracy began shortly after Cheney took office in 2001 and he won't stop, evidently, until the President of the United States has all the power of the dictators that they call evil - for doing the exact same thing.

Enemy of the State

Show of hands.. How many of you saw the Will Smith movie Enemy of the State?

A tad far fetched? Not anymore.

It seems Executive Privilege, Homeland Security and Terrorist are more than just a blank check. It's as though under the guise of safety these true terrorists who reside in and frequent Washington DC are taking their cues from the movie.

A program to employ spy satellites for certain domestic uses has been postponed because of privacy concerns.

Congress had already provided money for the program, which was to begin this month. But some lawmakers demanded more information about its legal basis and what protections there were to ensure that the government was not peering into the homes of Americans. As a result, the Homeland Security Department is not formally moving ahead with the program until it answers those questions, a department spokesman said.

"..not formally moving ahead.." We all know what that means, it means we're doing it and flipping you off at the same time.

Let us all take a moment of silence for the death of our Constitution.

In talking with a right-winged friend about this satellite issue, her comment was, "If you live a clean life you have nothing to worry about." Don't we? Isn't losing our privacy something to worry about? What about the burned fragments of our Constitution?

Sometimes at night, my husband and I sit out on our back patio with a cocktail and chat about the days events. Do I care if anyone knows this? Nope. Do I care care if the government is watching me do this? You bet your sweet ass I do!

Enough! I am done giving up my civil liberties and rights that I, my father, brother, uncles and numerous forefathers fought to gain and protect. I'm tired of the scared and the true traitors (HANK). I am tired of the verbal civil war that this ass, who has the audacity to park a Bin Laden in the Lincoln bedroom, has created. I'm tired of being hated by the world for the few war mongers we have left. I'm tired of the way I have to fly because of the way I vote and what I say.

Scared? Yes I am. Not of terrorists. Of my own government and what it has done to my country and of what my countrymen have become. Frightened children who believe in a Strike First policy. Doesn't that truly define "Terrorist"?

The department would not say how long it planned to postpone the program. “We are cooperatively working with the Congress to answer any questions that they have,” said a spokesman, Andrew Lluberes. “We are totally confident that this is going to go forward.”

Bedtime For Gonzo

"It has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the department of justice."

Alberto Gonzales August 27th 2007


And what a great leader he was!

He lead left leaning US Federal Prosecutors right out of their jobs.
He lead a nation, who prides itself on being moral and just, to redefine torture and not only allow it, embrace it.
He lead that same country to go against all that we stand for by banishing the term "POW" from this disaster that is called the "War on Terror". They, now being referred to as "Enemy Combatants", do not fall under the same rights as Prisoners of War. These "enemies" have no rights.

(Bush) called Gonzales a man of integrity, decency and principle. He said he had been reluctant to accept the resignation, which came after "months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the justice department".

He would see it that way... wouldn't he?

So, good bye Gonzo. It's nice to know that you stayed true to the bushies form. You lied, were about to get caught, then bolted and ran for cover. You Helped in the destruction of the American Constitution. You have raped and pillaged every single American right and liberty. You helped the American people feel nice and safe as you sought, and won, to remove every ounce of dignity and privacy they had. You, with your fingerprint on the detainee bill, helped this country become even more hated. You proved to those who didn't like us, that they had solid ground to hate.

Oh, sleep well Gonzo you did the kings bidding and like many before you, paid the price. I certainly hope the pay was worth the destruction of a county.

Sweet dreams, and may you and all of your destructors of human life and democracy rot in hell. May the door hit you squarely in ass on your way out.

Wiretapping Terrorists?

Would you be shocked if you found out that this administration was spying on anti-war groups? Would it shock you that this is, in part, part of the terrorist watch program, the one with all of the warrantless wire tapping? No? Me either.

If Bush is refusing to get a warrant to tap your phone, then it can't be for a "real reason." Similar to his refusal to go under oath, he won't because he most certainly isn't going to tell the truth.

The Pentagon's new intelligence undersecretary is recommending the Defense Department shut down a controversial classified database that has been criticized for improperly collecting information on anti-war groups and citizens.

Recommending?

The database has been under critical review since it was publicly disclosed in December 2005.

Anti-war groups and other organizations, including a Quaker group — the American Friends Service Committee — protested after it was revealed that the military had monitored anti-war activities, organizations and individuals who attended peace rallies.

Pentagon officials last year said the program was productive and had detected international terrorist interests in specific military bases. But they also acknowledged that some workers may not have been using the system properly.

So, peaceful anti-war protesters are actually terrorists in disguise?

Why are we so eager to lay down our civil liberties? Why isn't the public storming the castle over this? Why do we not care? Are we that afraid? Or, do we just not care?

A wise friend told me (I don't actually know how accurate this is, but...) the attacks of 9/11 took ten years from planning to execution. With a grin, he remarked it was "Bush to Bush". He also, in his infinite wisdom, declared that if this warrantless wiretapping was working here.... maybe we should try that in Iraq, rather than this so-called "surge". I think he may have a point.

The TALON reports — collected by an array of Defense Department agencies including law enforcement, intelligence, counterintelligence and security — are compiled in a large database and analyzed by an obscure Pentagon agency, the Counterintelligence Field Activity. CIFA is a three-year-old outfit whose size and budget are secret.

Last year, a Pentagon review found that as many as 260 reports in the database were improperly collected or kept there. At the time, the Pentagon said there were about 13,000 entries in the database, and that less than 2 percent either were wrongly added or were not purged later when they were determined not to involve real threats.

Pissed off yet?

The Name Game

I hate any and all forms of racism. I have zero tolerance for people who judge based on religion, race, sexuality, nationality etc. So where does one turn when it's our own government doing the labeling?

Imagine that you applied for a car loan. You have a decent credit score of about 675. You should have no problem buying that dream vehicle of yours. Until you find out that your middle name is on some terrorist watch list.

One California couple, Tom and Nanci Kubbany, were denied a loan to buy a home when his credit report came back with an alert saying his middle name, Hassan, was an alias for one of Saddam Hussein's sons.

In another case, a Sacramento man could only collect money wired to him through Western Union after providing his ID, Social Security number and place of birth, because his first and middle names, Mohammed Ali, were on the list, the report said.

SAN FRANCISCO - Businesses checking customers' names against a Treasury Department terrorist watch list are sometimes denying services to innocent people, according to a report released Tuesday by civil rights lawyers.

The 250-page list, posted publicly on a Treasury Department Web site, is being used by credit bureaus, health insurers and car dealerships, as well as employers and landlords, according to the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The list includes some of the world's most common names, such as Gonzalez, Lopez, Ali, Hussein, Abdul, Lucas and Gibson, and companies are often unsure how to root out mismatches. Some turn consumers away rather than risk penalties of up to $10 million and 30 years in prison for doing business with someone on the list, the group said.

"Much of (this screening) is overbroad and unnecessary, and increasingly denies Americans services, livelihoods, and their good name based on opaque determinations and administrative fiat," the report said.

Does it seem odd to you that in one of bush's speeches he said, ".. they hate us because of our freedom..." yet this same man is insisting we give up said freedoms for a false sence of safety?

No-Fly Zone

Before I post a part two to my piece "One Year Ago", I think this is something everyone should see and know.
Everyone needs to know that this is not an isolated incident, this is not a million and one chance. This is the beginning of the end of democracy and the rights and freedoms in which we are told we must fight. GW once said that the terrorists hate us for our freedoms. Well, they must be thinking of us as their new best friends now..

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is now part of the Department of Homeland Security, is authorized by law to maintain watch lists of names of individuals suspected of posing "a risk of air piracy or terrorism or a threat to airline or passenger safety." While initially denying to the media that such a list existed, the TSA finally acknowledged its existence in October 2002.

EPIC submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in October 2002 to learn more about the operation of the watch lists, which reportedly had been used to interfere with the travel of political activists. When the TSA failed to respond to EPIC's request, EPIC filed suit in December 2002. (EPIC v. TSA). The lawsuit sought, among other things, TSA's criteria for putting people on the lists that bar some passengers from flying and subject others to extensive scrutiny, and complaints from passengers who felt they had been mistakenly placed on the lists. See TSA FOIA response (pdf) for more information.

TSA released documents in response to EPIC's request April 2003. The documents, while heavily redacted, provide give an insight into how the TSA operates the watch lists, and raises several questions for further public and Congressional oversight.

As the TSA contemplates ever more intrusive passenger profiling schemes, the agency documents uncovered through EPIC's FOIA work raise important questions about how the TSA currently operates. The concerns surrounding the agency's administration of the watch lists preview several potential problems with the proposed roll out of passenger prescreening systems such as Secure Flight. The TSA should provide answers to the following questions:

How many people are on the "no fly" and "selectee" lists? How many are American citizens or legal permanent residents?
Who is responsible for oversight of the list? Who verifies that the names are selected appropriately and whether the information accurate?
How does the operation of the watch lists comply with the Privacy Act of 1974?
How effective have the watch lists been?
How can individuals who have been misidentified as watch list matches clear their names?
Why is there a need for a new passenger prescreening program if intelligence agencies are already coordinating to ensure that certain high risk individuals on government watch lists do not board planes?
How will Secure Flight respect individuals' due process rights?

You can read it all here.
Granted, this just talks about American citizens on the "no-fly" FBI watch list. I just thought it was a good place to start.

One Year Ago

A year ago I wrote this and it was posted by my friends at Liberal Avenger.

My brother-in-law decided to take my sister to Las Vegas for a few days. My husband and I went too… much fun, as always. But here’s my issue…
My sister is in customer service for a boat part building company. My brother-in-law is an engineer, designing wind-shields for the same company. I am an artist (of sorts) I design offices & lounges etc, using colorization. My husband is the head maintenance for a Walmart DC. Any problems yet? I didn’t think so either… until my sister and i tried to board a plane.
We were taken into a separate room and basically strip searched. We were told we were on the FBI watch list. We were then escorted onto the plane, then, escorted off and searched again.
Robin and I sat in my hotel room mulling this over.. why? why us? I mean, yes, we don’t like shrub. I am much more vocal than she, but yes the dislike is there. So what could we have in common that would make us have to go through this humiliating experience? Are our jobs that “interesting”? Do we send shrub nasty notes? threaten? defile? Nope. What we have in common is one thing and one thing only. We both receive e-mails from moveon.org.
Tell me, you wingnuts, is this right? Is this the “democracy” you care to live in? Is this why our brother died? Why our father and grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought? Is this your idea of freedom? Keeping America safe? I think we can all agree - and yes brt, even you - that there’s something wrong here. This is not what I ever envisioned being my country. We may politically disagree, but this is absolute bullshit!
I don’t think I have ever been this embarrassed or angry. It’s no wonder the Europeans and the rest of the world think of us as the new Nazi Germany.
Move over LA, I’m about to become a Canadian! (I prefer hockey to football anyway!)
Ignore the type-o's I was very angry when I wrote this.
Mull it over, think about it. I will, in a few days give you my "conclusion".

As a side note, I used to be a poster on Liberal Avenger. I was told that the FBI was reading my posts. I have not posted anything over there since that date. I did, before you hard boot your pc's, ask about the commenters. They have no interest in you. Just me. I remember doing a piece in in LA about torture. I was asked if that was in code. Good God!
In all honesty, I didn't think I could ever or would ever have the guts to write or post about this again. Now, I guess I feel I have to. Remember, I am not one. I am one of hundreds of thousands of American citizens this has been done to. Tell me, how would you feel?

Another One Bites the Dust

If Cheney says, it must be true.......

I am finding it much easier to list the liberties and privacy rights we have to those we don't. What we do now have is a much smaller list. Now, we find, we have lost another one.
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday the Pentagon and CIA are not violating people's rights by examining the banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage in the United States.
I don't know about anyone else, but I've always had to give my permission for a bank or other loan institution to check my credit. Yet, cheney states - again - this domestic infringement on Americans right to privacy is well within his legal rights.
"The Defense Department gets involved because we've got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets," Cheney said.
"The Department of Defense has legitimate authority in this area. This is an authority that goes back three or four decades. It was reaffirmed in the Patriot Act," he said. "It's perfectly legitimate activity. There's nothing wrong with it or illegal. It doesn't violate people's civil rights."
The Pentagon and the CIA, to a lesser extent, have used this little-known power, officials said. The FBI, the lead agency on domestic counterterrorism and espionage, has issued thousands of such letters since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Ah yes! The fear tactic!
Interestingly enough, the majority of Americans are fed up with the domestic spying, fear mongering, illegal war issues. Not that this administration cares. Nope, the decider will have his way. Just ask him.
I think that the entire administrations concerns could be summed up by the deciders comment of a week ago. He stated that if the new congress attempted to cut his war purse and surge stings, he'd kill a bill on Medicare. MEDICARE! No, even our ailing seniors mean less to this group then our civil liberties. Only a cash flow for them and their buds. That's it. End of story.
Is it even possible that they have forgotten that they are civil servants, elected officials, who, by rights should have the best interests of their people at heart? Seemingly the American people don't mean a great deal. Of course with the exception of handing over our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, moms and dads to be used as pawns in an illegal war of aggression. The last election taught them nothing. Hopefully, the new congress will.

Funny thing though, while bush and cheney are screaming about their "legal rights" they are ignoring ours.