"They are spying on al Qaeda - not the American people..."

[kentuck]

That is what the professor from UVA said on CSPAN this morning. I've heard that a thousand times. I've heard Limbo and all the talking heads say it. I've heard right-wing callers say it. And I want to know? How do they know that? Do they work in the NSA and are exposing state secrets??

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Good question

[jillan]

2. I have the same question.

Since the bsh admin has kept this a secret, how exactly does anyone know
what they are doing?

hmmmm.

[trotsky]

3. And also...

How can you know if someone is al Qaeda without listening to them first?

[kentuck]

7. If they are citizens of this country...

there must be probable cause. They have up to 72 hours to go to the Court.

[Hosnon]

11. Yea but the Supreme Court has carved out exceptions to the warrant

requirement - the crux of the DOJ's legal defense regarding the Fourth Amendment.

I think it doesn't fit into the exceptions but I've just started looking into it.

[Neil Lisst]

4. We know they're spying on Quakers and Halliburton protesters

Are we to believe THEY are on the receiving end of calls from overseas from Al Qaeda?!

Such bullshit!

[Brotherjohn]

6. We also KNOW they accumulated data (=calls) on thousands of US...

...that's calls made to or from YOU and ME, American citizens... that the FBI has admitted yielded nothing but dead ends.

In other words, the statement that they are only spying on Al Qaeda is factually KNOWN to be a bald-faced LIE.

[LynnTheDem]

5. How does he know better than the sec of Homeland Security???

Who already has admitted THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT AMERICAN CITIZENS were spied on and in fact it was DATA-MINING?

SO this "professor" is calling the sec of Homeland Security a LIAR?

[savemefromdumbya]

8. Indeed if they were spying on AlCheney then they would have caught them

but they are spying on the public - they want to know whether you read Harry Potter

[dchill]

9. "not the American people..."

Oh, then I guess we'll just have to trust them.

[PATRICK]

10. The same mad circular reasoning

Loyal Americans trust Bush to protect them. Therefore anything he does must be right and his reason correct. And in reverse. Bush only protects loyal Americans. If someone is upset they are not loyal. Anyone who opposes Bush and Bush's reason, even on grounds of the law and the Constitution are not correct.

And the laws can be changed around their priority. Bush as supreme means you, as a citizen slave are protected.

Of course the usual logic can be TRIED when exposing this fraudulent thinking. Then there are the stages. After all, why apologize that Bush didn't break the law? They keep going up to the boundary and daring everyone. Bush IS above the law, they want to say. And do in fact. There are no boundaries. There are no definitions of the good citizen or the good acts unless Bush says so. And because they must be modest about their Emperor worship it must be in parallel with having a Great Enemy, a danger requiring this kind of champion beyond the law. Someone to excuse all crime and abuse of the people the Great Leader is sworn to protect. And that is invented almost out of modesty.

If not, exactly what must Bush do, theoretically, to be beyond the protection of this mythology. What? Kill your loved ones? Take your money? Sing "Feelings" off key while dropping the phony Texican accent? Marry Jeff Gannon in a public ceremony conducted by god Rev. Moon? Burn the flag(the stars and bars)? What theoretical laws would he have to break to be impeached, and be careful in ALL areas Bush is approaching the gold standard with only stonewalled evidence to say one way or the other if he has or not. What is the hierarchy of principles? Isn't it all principles(not laws) that favor anything Bush decides at any particular time?

Before they get into embarrassing themselves with the latest talking points given them from the Oval office, what exactly are their a priori arguments. Only that Bush/RW is right. Then redefine God's creation accordingly. Of course there are turning points where the suckers desert Bush. Sometimes trivial and personal, sometimes an unwilled awakening to reality. But they want to go back whenever they can.

Locally we have this retired Bush speechwriter. He admits all the Nixon crimes, but he loves and defends Nixon. Just like Albert Speer detests and loves Hitler. No longer a mere loyalist he is sadly nuts at one time, sadly savvy at another, in a limbo of unreality unredeemed and illogical. All Bush apologists must share his fate eventually. Nutty, bitter, quizzical bits of harmless color. Hasten the day, hasten the day.

[napi21]

12. The BIG joke with this excuse is

How do you know the people being taped have Al Qaida connections unless you taped them first and found that out?

[wishlist]

13. NBC news last night said 5,000 Americans were spied on without warrants

NBC evening news had story saying that out of at least 5000 Americans who were wiretapped without warrants only about 10 were deemed suspicious meriting further investigation.

[Vickers]

14. Why tape 'em? Just go arrest them, if they are terrorists.

:sarcasm: