POLICE STATE / MILITARY - LOOKING GLASS NEWS | |
Senate Judiciary Committee to Shred Bill of Rights |
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by Kurt Nimmo Another Day in the Empire Entered into the database on Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 @ 11:32:35 MST |
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Magic Bullet Specter and the the Senate Judiciary Committee are set
to deliver a coup de grâce to the Bill of Rights, as the Constitution
is wounded, having endured the marching tromp of black boots over the last six
years. “A bill that expands President Bush’s ability to wiretap American
phones and conduct other forms of domestic surveillance will likely appear before
the Senate Judiciary Committee next Thursday,” writes Brian
Beutler for Raw Story. “The bill, which was written by judiciary chairman
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), and which has been widely and publicly excoriated
by Democratic members of the committee, contains provisions—such as the
institution of program-wide warrants, and warrants that do not expire for a
year—that would weaken the strict limits that currently govern the FISA
courts.” Never mind that FISA itself is a violation of both the First and Fourth
Amendments, as warrantless searches are unconstitutional, no matter what the
context or motivation. Recent “strengthening of the FISA court fits comfortably
in the pattern established in the late 1970s after the massive FBI crime spree
against political activists,” notes Philip
Colangelo of Covert Action Quarterly. “It waved a flag over a pattern
government activities that had been criminal, draped it in authoritative language,
and magically made it all legal. Since that time, through a series of laws and
executive orders, policy-makers have further chipped away at freedoms previously
presumed to be sacred.” When Clinton signed Executive Order 12949 … the frightening mandate
of the FISA court was greatly expanded: It now has legal authority to approve
black-bag operations to authorize Department of Justice (DoJ) requests to
conduct physical as well as electronic searches, without obtaining a warrant
in open court, without notifying the subject, without providing an inventory
of items seized. The targets need not be under suspicion of committing a crime,
but may be investigated when probable cause results solely from their associations
or status: for example, belonging to, or aiding and abetting organizations
deemed to pose a threat to U.S. national security. Furthermore, despite a
lowered standard for applying the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search
and seizure than is necessary in other U.S. courts, under the 1995 expansion,
evidence gathered by the FISA court may now be used in criminal trials. Previously,
evidence was collected and stockpiled solely for intelligence purposes. But even the loose restrictions of FISA are too much for Bush, the fascist
neocons, and apparently the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The judiciary
committee originally sought to bring the NSA wiretapping program into compliance
with FISA, but in practice, critics claim, Specter’s FISA amendments actually
give the president freedom to expand his wiretapping activities,” explains
Raw Story. “A different bill, written by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
and cosponsored by Specter will also appear before the committee Thursday. Its
provisions would do more to limit the NSA program than Specter’s, and
would even mandate that the program face judicial review.” According to a Senate aide working for Magic Bullet, Bush would veto any bill
with a provision for judicial review, that is to say a provision he at least
pretend to follow the Constitution. “Basically,” an aide told Raw
Story, “the White House said, ‘you can trust us, you have our word
that we will submit the program for judicial review. Just don’t make it
mandatory for us.’” In other words, trust the unitary decider
and his minions, the same folks who told us Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass
destruction and a smoking gun with a mushroom cloud. ____________________________ Read from Looking Glass News Government
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