But late Friday afternoon, the Obama DOJ filed the government's first response to EFF's lawsuit (.pdf), the first of its kind to seek damages against government officials under FISA, the Wiretap Act and other statutes, arising out of Bush's NSA program. But the Obama DOJ demanded dismissal of the entire lawsuit based on (1) its Bush-mimicking claim that the "state secrets" privilege bars any lawsuits against the Bush administration for illegal spying, and (2) a brand new "sovereign immunity" claim of breathtaking scope -- never before advanced even by the Bush administration -- that the Patriot Act bars any lawsuits of any kind for illegal government surveillance unless there is "willful disclosure" of the illegally intercepted communications.
In other words, beyond even the outrageously broad "state secrets" privilege invented by the Bush administration and now embraced fully by the Obama administration, the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and -- even if what they're doing is blatantly illegal and they know it's illegal -- you are barred from suing them unless they "willfully disclose" to the public what they have learned.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Obama Continues to Disappoint Part 2
Glenn Greenwald from Salon.com wrote a piece talking about the position of Obama's administration on wire-tapping, its defense of the Bush administration and how Obama's assertion of power is even more outrageous than anything ever attempted by Bush:
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12 comments:
To disappoint 44% of the population. ;)
Which 44%?
The 44% that opposes him.
LOL. Its funny how the majority of the american population support Obama and don't support his policies (bailouts, invasion of privacy) at the same time.
This is symptomatic of the real divide that is evolving in the US. These policies are supported by the elite political and corporate classes; they are not support by the majority of the middle class. Whether you're a Ron Paul supporter or an Obama supporter, the majority of americans do not think wiretapping without warrants is ok and noone would think the government can act without any oversight. The majority also do not think the banks or auto industries should be bailed out. These are the type of policies that Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity supported that made them so insane to watch.
Its the state vs. the people, and the state uses the left vs right fight to cover their very real agenda.
"LOL. Its funny how the majority of the american population support Obama and don't support his policies (bailouts, invasion of privacy) at the same time."
Congratulations on making your first counter-argument. :)
Actually, it is non-binary. A majority of the population supports Obama OVERALL, while disagreeing with him on certain policies.
"This is symptomatic of the real divide that is evolving in the US. These policies are supported by the elite political and corporate classes; they are not support by the majority of the middle class."
That's funny, when I googled for polls about the bailout and auto industry loans, I got these:
78% in favor of financial market bailout:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/26/poll-bailout-2/
57% say a bailout is needed:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,428921,00.html
79% want action:
http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/23/poll-bailout-rewards-bad-behavior/
And for the autobailouts, Americans were for them before the right used the CEO salaries as a wedge issue, cynically. In November of last year a majority was for the auto bailouts.
"Its the state vs. the people, and the state uses the left vs right fight to cover their very real agenda."
lol. Conspiracy of the state around every corner...
Better to say that the elite is scared of the Muslim radicals and are taking the wrong actions to deal with them, but that's just me.. obviously there is a grandiose conspiracy to turn America into a police state!
LOL FUCKING LOL
"lol. Conspiracy of the state around every corner...
Better to say that the elite is scared of the Muslim radicals and are taking the wrong actions to deal with them, but that's just me.. obviously there is a grandiose conspiracy to turn America into a police state!"
No, I don't think Obama, Biden, Reid and Pelosi are sitting around a table dreaming up what a great world it would be if the US was a police state. I do, however, believe they support policies that would allow the US to become one in a time of "emergency". I believe their support of a strong central state will lead them toward policies that infringes on the natural rights of individuals without concern. I believe they are strongly influenced by those outside of government that may not be well intended.
"I believe they are strongly influenced by those outside of government that may not be well intended."
And who are these "those outside of government"?
You sure do talk like you think Obama is planning to be a tyrant!
"You sure do talk like you think Obama is planning to be a tyrant!"
I don't think he's planning to be. I think it could happen though, just as I thought Bush could have become a dictator.
It takes the wrong chain of events and a jaded populace. America has the jaded populace.
Are you saying I'm jaded because I see the rich taking more and more of the wealth and because I think philosophies like Ron Paul's, while good vis-a-vis the state, help the rich take more and more?
No. You're not jaded. The American populace is jaded. Are you the American populace?
Its funny how you're so concerned about the redistribution of wealth, but continually fail to blame the culprit> the federal reserve.
No no. It couldn't be the federal reserve. Its just greedy people being greedy, and since greedy people are so bad, lets punish everyone with more regulation!
"No. You're not jaded. The American populace is jaded. Are you the American populace?"
How is it jaded?
"Its funny how you're so concerned about the redistribution of wealth, but continually fail to blame the culprit> the federal reserve."
The Fed is not the primary cause. The capitalist are. Once you figure that out, you'll understand the importance of the Fed.
"No no. It couldn't be the federal reserve. Its just greedy people being greedy, and since greedy people are so bad, lets punish everyone with more regulation!"
Regulation is not ipso facto bad. You seem to think it is.
"How is it jaded?"
The election was won the word "hope".
"The Fed is not the primary cause. The capitalist are. Once you figure that out, you'll understand the importance of the Fed."
The Fed enables the "capitalists".
"Regulation is not ipso facto bad. You seem to think it is."
For the most part. I can't think of a regulation right now that doesn't inhibit freedom. If you can think of one let me know.
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