In 2000, Freepers were OUTRAGED over the secrecy of the FISA courts

[BurtWorm]

Imagine if they'd found out Clinton issued an executive order to circumvent FISA!

The following link was discovered by Glenn Greenwald, which I found via kos:

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a27337612f5.htm


The Secret FISA Court: Rubber Stamping Our Rights
By Philip Colangelo
Covert Action Quarterly
11-27-00

Seven judges on a secret court have authorized all but one of over 7,500 requests to spy in the name of National Security. They meet in secret, with no published orders, opinions, or public record. Those spied on May never know of the intrusion. Now, Clinton has expanded the powers to include not only electronic, but physical searches.

The aftershock of the Oklahoma City bombing sent Congress scurrying to trade off civil liberties for an illusion of public safety. A good ten weeks before that terrible attack, however with a barely noticed pen stroke President Bill Clinton virtually killed off the Fourth Amendment when he approved a law to expand the already extraordinary powers of the strangest creation in the history of the federal judiciary.

Since its founding in 1978, a secret court created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA rhymes with ice -a) has received 7,539 applications to authorize electronic surveillance within the U.S. In the name of national security, the court has approved all but one of these requests from the Justice Department on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency. Each of these decisions was reached in secret, with no published orders, opinions, or public record. The people, organizations, or embassies spied on were not notified of either the hearing or the surveillance itself. The American Civil Liberties Union was not able to unearth a single instance in which the target of a FISA wiretap was allowed to review the initial application. Nor would the targets be offered any opportunity to see transcripts of the conversations taped by the government and explain their side of the story.

Without access to such materials, said Kate Martin of the ACLU, targets of FISA searches are denied any meaningful opportunity to contest the basis for the execution of the FISA search.

[stop the bleeding]

1. game set and match Freeptards - whatcha gonna say now ??n/t

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

5. Lie, deny, comply?

It's all they know how to do.

[stop the bleeding]

12. well said n/t

[Marr]

19. "9-11 Changed Everything ©"

The usual line they use when caught in undeniable hypocrisy.

[Earth_First]

20. I love the "©"

[stop the bleeding]

21. how could I forget 9/11 9/11 9/11 9/11 n/t

[hopeisaplace]

24. omg the copyright on that statement is hillarious!

[arcane1]

2. haha! Someone needs to re-post this over there

:evilgrin:

[Kerrytravelers]

3. Two many big words. Remember, freeptards don't comprehend.

That's why they think * is God. :eyes:

[arcane1]

8. post #45

"This should be required reading by every FReeper."


:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[BurtWorm]

25. '... a "shadow government" has been set up all around us my friend.'

As quietly as possible (although it sometimes breaks out into the open, usually with the sound of gunfire and the death of innocents), a "shadow government" has been set up all around us my friend. It's foundation is not the constitution, but Executive Orders, Presidential Procalamations, Secret Acts, and Emergency Powers.

It has all the tools to be an absolute tyranny and those behind it (on both sides of the aisle) who crave power and their form of "governance" continue to move towards it while we are distracted by so many other goings on.

13 Posted on 12/01/2000 05:31:21 PST


:spray:

[LiberalAndProud]

27. This guy was prescient.

He saw this coming way before I did.

[BurtWorm]

28. The comments on that thread are unbelievable!

I'll bet most liberals then would have been as nervous as the Freeps over FISA. I remember feeling slightly nauseated when I first heard about it (which was during the Bush reign, granted). It's truly astounding how you could take most of their comments in that thread almost whole and they'd seem totally fresh in an NSA scandal thread on DU today (including one hinting over how Clinton could use wiretapping of "furriners" (sic) to get to freepers). What are the freepers saying about the NSA scandal now, I wonder? Nothing like this, I'll bet.

[emulatorloo]

4. Freep: "Any chance of Bush rolling some of this back?" WHAT A CATCH

Thanks for posting this - Kicking and Nominating.

[emulatorloo]

6. One more --FISA could be used as "avenue of attack against Free Republic"

I know some don't like to go over there, so I am gonna quote a whole post:

------
Something was nagging at the back of my mind last night when I first read this, but I didn't make the connection until this morning.

The article makes strives to make it clear that the targets of the Kafka Kourt are foreign nationals, but then it also reveals that once a "target" is "approved" all of his or her contacts are also investigated.

We have some fairly active "furriners" who are FReepers - not picking on you, xxxxx, just wanted you to see this - and who could be used as an avenue of attack against Free Republic.

Outlandish? Yes. But then, so is this whole Kafka Kourt outlandish.

17 Posted on 12/01/2000 05:56:58 PST by xxxxxxxx
< Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | Top | Last >

[kster]

7. Also they were OUTRAGED with ELECTION THEFT MACHINES

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a0de22c0d2d.htm

[arcane1]

10. LMAO, I can't stop laughing at some of their responses

#77-

Wonder how many terrorist plots they have stopped? Sounds like despite trampling Constitutional rights, this was ineffective. Maybe because x42 told them to go after movie pirates!

My thoughts exactly. All this kissing of civil liberties goodbye in the name of national security, and they had no idea whatsoever this massive hijacking operation was being planned?


:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[BurtWorm]

26. "there are no checks and balances anymore.... Libs just don't see this!"

I don't see that as a possibility. This is wherein the danger lies in the precedent set by the Clinton criminal administration. God only knows who will be in power next, but there are no checks and balances anymore. This is exactly the SORT of thing I've been protesting all along. Libs just don't see this!

But when and where do they find this in the major media? They don't even know!


:rofl:

[FreedomAngel82]

14. But of course

not when there's fraud to be concerned about now huh?

[Crunchy Frog]

9. They're just demonstrating their complete lack of principles.

They base their evaluation of a policy on the party of the person who instituted it. Pretty much, if a Repuke did it, it must be right, if a Dem did it, it must be wrong, by definition.

Unlike them, we will not defend the actions of a Democrat if we believe them to be wrong (which we do alot) and we will acknowledge it when we think a Republican has done the right thing.

[BurtWorm]

22. Read the Greenwald piece this linked comes from. Instant classic!

http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/02/do-bush-followers-have-political.html

He asks "Do Bush Followers have a political ideology?" He concludes they only have an absurd, fanatic loyalty to the Bush boy.

[Crunchy Frog]

32. It's a personality cult with no personality there.

At least your Stalins and your Maos had a kind of a magnetism to them. I can't fathom what it is that Bush's followers see in him.

[FreedomAngel82]

11. Oh of course

Because it was Clinton as president than. :eyes: These people are ridiculous!

[Nutmegger]

13. Well everything is Clinton's fault

EVERYTHING! :eyes:

[FreedomAngel82]

15. And don't forget

the Clenis! It's so powerful isn't it?

[Nutmegger]

18. That's right! Clenis!

How can I forget?! :rofl:

[zbdent]

16. Remember when a few hundred FBI files were looked at?

Oh, the outrage there was that it was Bill Clinton doing it . . .

[Wickerman]

17. But, but, 9/11 changed ever'thing!

:puke: Yeah, they are only playing politics. What if a Clinton were in office? Very hypocritical.

[DS1]

23. Now made it to FARK.COM

:D

[Blue_Tires]

29. it only worried them when Clinton and Reno were in power

living in GA at the time, I heard this almost every day from local freeps, circa 98-99

[BurtWorm]

30. kick

[TheGunslinger]

31. Kick

[Kurovski]

33. Still further proof that the radical Republicans will do anything,

and say anything that fits their needs at the time.

They have no moral or ethical center. They are no different than common criminals, save for the fact that they have seized power in our nation.

Edit: there/their

[Dufaeth]

34. "Any chance of Bush rolling some of this back?"

:rofl: