Scott Ritter: A Silver Lining in Bush's New CIA Pick?

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/story/36250/

A Silver Lining in Bush's New CIA Pick?
By Scott Ritter, AlterNet
Posted on May 16, 2006, Printed on May 16, 2006

- snip -

Gen. Hayden, in an interview given to the media in 2003, claimed that the NSA was very careful in how it did its job, especially when it came to protecting the rights of Americans. "After Church and Pike, on this question, the ball and strike count on the agency is no balls and two strikes," Hayden said. "We don't take any pitches that are close to the strike zone. We are very, very careful. We can't go back to the American people with, "'Oh, well, we're sorry for this one, too.' We don't get close to the Fourth Amendment."

Of course, it turns out that Gen. Hayden is a liar. At the same time he was providing his glossy picture of NSA operations to CNN reporter David Ensore, Hayden knew that he had been, since early 2002, been conducting communication intercept operations under a presidential order that circumvented the FISA system he so falsely applauded, and that the Fourth Amendment rights of all Americans were under the direct assault of an intelligence agency so large and so secret it was, and is, virtually impossible for Congress to conduct even a modicum of oversight.

We now know that Hayden's attack on the Constitution goes far beyond the "limited program" described by President Bush when news of the program first leaked out in late 2005. The warrantless wiretap effort created by Gen. Hayden represents the most massive information collection effort ever targeted against American citizens, operating with a scope and depth that literally leaves almost no American unaffected.

What are we Americans to do? Congress has all but abrogated its constitutional oversight responsibilities mandated by the Constitution. The Senate Select Intelligence Committee has ceased to function in any capacity as an oversight body, with Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Sen. John D. Rockefeller, D-W.V., doing nothing to protect their constituents from the abuse of power taking place at the White House. The same can be said of Reps. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., and Jane Harmon. D-Calif., the chairman and ranking Democrat, respectively, on the House Intelligence Committee. The best Congress can muster is a weak threat by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., to withhold funding for the NSA unless the Bush administration is more forthcoming in responding to requests by Congress for information about the warrantless wiretap program. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., acknowledges that what President Bush has done is unconstitutional, and therefore illegal, but calls for "censure" of the president when impeachment is in order.

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[Peace Patriot]

1. What is the "silver lining" to this rotten-to-the-core appointment?

You have to read all the way to the bottom of the article to find any such "silver lining." Here it is...

"In a way, it could be a good thing that President Bush has nominated Gen. Hayden as the next director of the CIA. While Congress may fumble when it comes to confronting Hayden and the Bush administration on the issue of warrantess wiretaps and Fourth Amendment rights, the American media should have a field day."--Scott Ritter

You can't help but respect Scott Ritter--a courageous truth-teller, and US weapons inspector, who cried foul on the Iraq war long before other American establishment types, and who took a lot of grief for it.

But his analysis of the "silver lining" on Hayden--that somehow the war profiteering corporate news monopolies are going to protect us from the Hayden-Bush Gestapo state--seems like dreaming to me.

Scott rakes Congressional Repub and Dem over the coals for their failure to rein in this out-of-control president.

"What are we Americans to do? Congress has all but abrogated its constitutional oversight responsibilities mandated by the Constitution. The Senate Select Intelligence Committee has ceased to function in any capacity as an oversight body, with Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Sen. John D. Rockefeller, D-W.V., doing nothing to protect their constituents from the abuse of power taking place at the White House. The same can be said of Reps. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., and Jane Harmon. D-Calif., the chairman and ranking Democrat, respectively, on the House Intelligence Committee. The best Congress can muster is a weak threat by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., to withhold funding for the NSA unless the Bush administration is more forthcoming in responding to requests by Congress for information about the warrantless wiretap program. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., acknowledges that what President Bush has done is unconstitutional, and therefore illegal, but calls for "censure" of the president when impeachment is in order."

He praises insurgent Congressional candidacies, like that of leftist Dem Marcy Winograd, who is challenging Harmon in the Calif 36th. Scott says that, although he is a "conservative Republican," he supports Winograd in criticizing the do-nothing, imitation Bush "hawk" Jane Harmon.

His article is hard to read, because it reflects such frustration. He basically says that American democracy is going down for the count. We are unable to control Bush. The checks and balances of our system are GONE. Bad Bushites and collusive Dems like Harmon are WHY they are gone. He is supporting a LEFTIST (Winograd)--although he disagrees with her on most things--because throwing ALL the bums out may be the only solution.

And, in the end, he lamely says maybe (war profiteering corporate news monopoly) media will save us from Hayden. A thin reed of hope, to say the least.

The trouble with political commentary like this is that it does not address the fundamental issue of power: our right to vote, the mechanism by which we exercise our sovereignty as a people.

If we had TRANSPARENT, VERIFIABLE votes counts, in elections that were not drenched in corporate boodle, we wouldn't have a fascist tyranny in Washington DC. You can's start at THIS end of the problem, and expect to understand it. You have to start at the BEGINNING. Most of our elected officials have been bought and paid for, for a long time, by 'military-industrial complex' corporations and the super-rich. Now our elections are directly controlled by Bushite electronic voting corporations using 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, with virtually no audit/recount controls, in a NON-TRANSPARENT election system, created by the two biggest crooks in Congress, Tom Delay and Bob Ney (and also Christopher Dodd), with their "Hack America's Vote Act" of 2002.

Until we restore our election system to the public venue--and seize back our right to vote--WE HAVE NO WAY TO EXERCISE OUR SOVEREIGNTY.

The corporate news monopolies are COMPLICIT in the 'military-industrial complex' boondoggle AND in the electronic voting boondoggle ($4 billion appropriated to pad the pockets of Bushite-controlled voting machine corporations, and to corrupt state/local election officials).

They are not going to help us--neither on Hayden nor anything else. They are the enemy, as much as the Bush junta is.

FUNDAMENTALS: Our right to vote must come first. THEN we can address other problems.

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For those who need the info...

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SOME RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTION II:

Hopeful signs - latest news:

California voters sue the state over Diebold:
www.VoterAction.org is suing the state of California and 18 Calif county registrars on behalf of 25 California voter/plaintiffs, on the illegal Diebold "certification" by Schwarzenegger appointee Bruce McPherson.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2180496
Seven of these counties just promised the judge they would use PAPER BALLOTS, and were dismissed from this lawsuit (4/27/06).
http://kcbs.com/pages/29285.php
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2249205

Maryland rejects Diebold:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x418263

Florida - anti-trust accusations against Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, re: heroic Florida election official Ion Sancho:
(FLA AG subpoenas the companies)
http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,110192,00.html
http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/MGBKSY8W8LE.html
(info & discussion)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2183630

Utah county clerk fights back!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x419226

(Tide turning?) New York Times: "New Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems" (5/12/06)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2278829


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More resources for American Revolution II:

www.votersunite.org (MythBreakers - easy primer on electronic voting--one of the myths is that HAVA requires electronic voting; it does not.)
www.UScountvotes.org (statistical monitoring of '06 and '08 elections--they need donations)


(Activist sites with links to state activist groups or info)
www.votetrustusa.org (news of this great movement from around the country)
www.votersunited.org (good general info, and state links)
www.verifiedvoting.org (great activist site)
www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml (fab compendium of all election info)

www.freepress.org (devoted to election reform)
www.bradblog.com (also great, and devoted to election reform)
www.TruthIsAll.net (analysis of the 2004 election)* :patriot: :applause: :patriot:
www.votepa.us (well-organized local group of citizen activists in Pennsylvania, where important legal issues are at stake, including state's rights over election systems)
Provisions of the PA lawsuit:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x423739

The Voter Confidence Resolution
http://tinyurl.com/rlnr2 (“We Do Not Consent”)
http://guvwurld.blogspot.com (GuvWurld blog main page)
http://tinyurl.com/amryg (Voter Confidence Resolution

www.debrabowen.com (Calif Senator running for Sec of State to reform election system)
www.johnbonifaz.com (running for Massachusetts Sec of State on strong election reform and antiwar platform)

*Some tributes to TruthIsAll, who is very ill:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417007
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x417231
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x675477

Congressional bills:

Russ Holt's HR 550 requires a real paper ballot, bans secret software in "voting machines", and has more than 170 co-sponsors, but the audit required is too weak, it promotes electronic voting and centralized power, and the secret software might be permitted to continue in the central tabulators (the bill is not clear). To sign the HR 550 petition: http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html
At lot of discussion at DU of the loopholes/pitfalls in HR 550:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x422926
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x421136
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=422967&mesg_id=422967
(Note: Senate Bill-SB 330 and House-HR704 simply require a "voter verified paper audit trail" (VVPAT), which may be best for the moment.)


Also of interest:


Michael Collins (Autorank)'s searing election reform article for New Zealand's Scoop.com
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x971363

Bob Koehler (-- four recent election reform initiatives in Ohio, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the biggest flipover we've seen yet; the election theft machines and their masters are now dictating election policy! Title: "Poll Shock" 11/24/05)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col321.htm

Bob Koehler's latest: "Trust us: Take this box and stuff it" (3/16/06)
http://commonwonders.com/archives/col337.htm
More Koehler:
www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

Amaryllis (Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia lavish lobbying of election officials - Beverly Hilton, Aug. '05)
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340

HOWARD DEAN remarks on electronic voting machines 04/06
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x994507

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Throw Diebold, ES&S and ALL election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

:think: :patriot: :woohoo: :patriot: :think:

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"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." --Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

[Supersedeas]

2. But it sounds like Specter is already cutting deals and Frist wants to

cancel hearings on the matter