John Dean on why everyone should be concerned about Bush's spying

[ProSense]

Why Should Anyone Worry About Whose Communications Bush and Cheney Are Intercepting, If It Helps To Find Terrorists?

By JOHN W. DEAN
----
Friday, Feb. 24, 2006

Although the Bush Administration does not encourage public debate over decisions it has made regarding how to govern, more and more people are asking questions about the ways and means employed during this presidency.


Snip...

One Reason Americans Should Worry: Data Mining Makes Mistakes

Fingerprints on a bag holding detonators involved in the 2004 Madrid subway terror attacks were supposedly linked to Portland, Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield. As a result, Mayfield - also suspicious in authority's eyes because he'd converted to his wife's religion, Islam -- found himself in solitary confinement for two weeks as a "material witness." But in the end, the FBI was wrong; the prints weren't his.


Snip...

Many people trust the government not to abuse or misuse this information. Based on experience, I don't. But if you do, imagine what a hacker might do after cracking into all that private and government information - the kind of security breach that happens every day. Such hacking could trigger scenarios that range from blackmail to graymail to identity theft, to others knowing more about you and your life than even you may know.


Snip...

To those who don't worry about giving up their rights, programs like the NSA's may seem fine. But others of us appreciate the blood and treasury this nation expended, both indirectly and directly, in securing those rights. And I am convinced my generation will fight to the end to prevent the zeal of good intention in fighting terror, from letting the terrorists win by permitting the government to take those rights.

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060224.html

[Auntie Bush]

1. John Dean knows how to think and reason...unlike our dear "Leader".

[napi21]

2. I wonder if there's a way we can find out how many other mistakes were

made by the FBI, CIA, and all the other Fed security agencies? That would be great info to use when the "I'm not doing anything wrong" crowd!

I can't even say they are all Pubs! They're not! A few years ago, my son and his wife were visiting and we got to talking about secret spying. My son said those famous words "I don't care. I'm not doing anything wrong. Let 'em look!"

His wife & I jumped all over him for that kind of thinking. Anyone who has never been involved in legal cases or investigations tend to believe only the wrong get in trouble. It's a whole other story when it bites them in the ......

[Independent_Liberal]

3. Kick!