This scares me, and it should scare you too. White house being sued over Patriot act secrets

[dorksied]

Article here- http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/york-times-sues-obama-administration-over-patriot-act-203926398.html

When you make the rules, and can decide to interpret them however you please, basically it means you can break them if you want.

Be scared, America. Be scared.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. It seems that many or most DUers are in favor of secret laws

and the like. Apparently we need them to fight terra.

[MNBrewer]

2. They "trust Obama" so

1. They can't imagine that he might abuse his unlimited power
and
2. They can't imagine a time at which he might not be President

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Well it is terra, after all

Giving up the Constitution is a small price to pay.

[chill_wind]

7. And the second aspect

has been the most starkly mind-boggling of all, always.

[teddy51]

3. It does scare me, and the other thing that does is Obama killing

Americans without Due Process.

[xchrom]

5. What folk would hate w/ a republican - they love w/ a democrat. Nt

[AnOhioan]

6. Rec to zero

[boppers]

8. Doesn't scare me at all.

I also have no illusions about believing that, oh, FISA was ever anything more than laughable political theater.

There's already *huge* amounts of data being sifted and mined and collected, legally, under 3rd party doctrine, so this is usually arguments over which middlemen are more "legal" than others. The data is being collected and used anyways.

[tnlefty]

9. Why didn't the NYT sue the Dimson** misadministration then?

They were aware of the abuses...so why didn't they sue Dipshit** and nip it at the bud?

[Luminous Animal]

11. It sued the Defense Dept. in Feb. 2006 over the NSA eavesdropping program.

[chill_wind]

15. Eight Federal Agencies Have FOIA Requests a Decade Old,

According to Knight Open Government Survey

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB349/index.htm

Who knows what's still lying around in there, and how many years some of it will take to get through the courts, depending on what it is. I bet Savage's is looking at a lot of stalls and court appeals over a couple years at least, if it's anything like the luck of the ACLU with so much of the rest of Bush/Obama's famous "states secrets" privileges.

[chill_wind]

14. What makes you think they didn't? Probably many times, in fact.

New York Times Co. v. DOD, No. 06-1553 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 28, 2007)

Re: Records related to Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) run by NSA

• Adequacy of search: The newly submitted DOD declaration provides sufficient "specificity of detail" so as to meet the agency's burden of proof concerning its search for responsive records.

• Exemption 5: Upon in camera review, some of the documents withheld by defendants are predecisional and reflect the agencies' deliberative process, and were therefore withheld appropriately. Other documents, which are not predecisional and were not prepared in anticipation of litigation, must be released.

http://www.justice.gov/oip/foiapost/2007foiapost16.htm

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a New York Times lawsuit against the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice, saying classified documents the newspaper was seeking under the Freedom of Information Act were properly withheld.

The Times sued the two departments in federal court in April 2006 over their refusal to hand over documents connected to the government's warrant-free wiretapping program.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-02-foia-lawsuit-dismissed_N.htm

Just like CREW, ACLU, and jillions of other civil liberties, legal watchgroups and media groups had to sue and file, over and over, years without end, now.

[Luminous Animal]

10. It doesn't frighten me but it does piss me off that my government has to be

sued to reveal the rules under which the want to operate.

[Angry Dragon]

12. TRANSPARENCY

[librechik]

13. love them. hold them to account

[chill_wind]

16. The Obama transparency track record on Bush Doctrine isn't too hot.

Just a taste of August 2011 FOIA decisions as mere example-

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2011/08/index.html

Warrantless Surveillance Memos Stay Classified by Pete Yost, Associated Press, August 29. "The Justice Department is refusing to release legal memos the George W. Bush administration used to justify his warrantless surveillance program, one of the most contentious civil liberties issues during the Republican president's time in office."

CIA demands cuts to critical 9/11 memoir by Dan De Luce, Agence France Presse, August 26. "The Central Intelligence Agency has demanded a publisher make extensive cuts to a book critical of its performance before and after the September 11 attacks, officials said Friday."

Office of Legal Counsel Denies Release of Yoo Legal Memoranda on surveillance, response to FOIA request, August 10. "We are releasing one document with redactions pursuant to FOIA Exemptions One, Three and Five, because the redacted information is classified, covered by non-disclosure provisions contained in other federal statutes, and is protected by the deliberative process privilege."

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2011/08/index.html

much more: http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html

[bvar22]

17. Remember THIS guy?

Restore America’s Honor
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-15-2010/respect-my-authoritah

Transparency
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5t8GdxFYBU

"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?"



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity!
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