FBI Raids Home of Suspected NSA Leaker

During the hours that Congress was debating codifying the Bush administration's wiretapping by revising the FISA law, the Department of Justice was raiding the home of former Justice official Thomas M. Tamm to identify the person who first brought the illicit program to light: "The agents seized Tamm's desktop computer, two of his children's laptops and a cache of personal files... the raid was related to a Justice criminal probe into who leaked details of the warrantless eavesdropping program to the news media... James X. Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology said the raid was 'amazing' and shows the administration's misplaced priorities: using FBI agents to track down leakers instead of processing intel warrants to close the [purported surveillance] gaps."

Because I don't kmow

[pembo13]

Could someone tell me ho legal this is? Seems to me that police type groups shouldn't be able to pursue what could easily be construed as a vendetta.

Where's the rest of the whistleblowers?

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on, Gonzales keeps hinting at other secret domestic surveillance programs that the President has authorized outside of FISA. (When questioned by Congress, he kept saying he's only answering about THIS PARTICULAR program that has been put under FISA and when asked if there are other domestic spying programs he refused to answer the question).

So where are the other brave souls who will reveal what Pres has been up to? I bet it's a Nixon style spy on your political enemies program, and that Gonzales is issuing a coded threat when he hints at the other domestic spying program.

Re:Actions like these distinguish the system

[labnet]

"Fascist" is such a poorly defined word

Yes, but the OP confined its meaning well when he said

Saying that "The State" is right no matter what

and inferring Bush and Co are on a supress all oposition below the threshold of reaction from the general populace. It will be interesting if they manage to rig the coming election so they can continue their PNAC agenda. I also find it interesting that anyone with a clue thinks the currrent regime is off the rails, but there seems to be no major backlash?? Why is this so? Is the media really that controlled, is it apathy, or is really not a problem, and internet chat is just amplifying not much?

Am I the only one

[jon287]

Who is really REALLY afriad of a "national emergency" that requires a "temporary extension of the current administration" happening in the next year or so? And not just in the sarcastic "it would figure" kind of way, but a "it might actually happen, then what?!" kind of way.

Re:Happens everywhere

[Slashamatic]

MI6/SIS is foreign only whilst MI5 are domestic. If someone from overseas comes to the UK then 6 is supposed to hand the problem over to 5 as they have no infrastructure for UK based ops. Note that there is a certain healthy rivalry between the services which limits their power. Five do have officers out and about (most famously at places like Heathrow) and they actually work through so-called Special Branch rather than the regular police. If five tell SB to do something that they think is illegal, then SB can and do challenge it.

I would agree that regional accountability is one of the reasons for the UK's succes which is why I shudder at each step towards a 'national' force.

They will hunt you down ...

[hachete]

The article reminds of the case of the guy who was the anonymous whistle-blower for Abu Grahib. In a NY times article, he tells how he first felt paranoid about his fellow guards but worse was to come when Rumsfeld congratulated him on the Abu Grahib whistle-blowing in front of a crowded canteen. Even though the whistle-blower received a letter of apology after, I share his disbelief that Rumsfeld - a control-freak and a stickler for detail - was unaware of the consequences of his actions.

The whole tenor of this administration - from Bush downwards - is one of petty and mean-mindedness. It will be good when they go, for they do nothing but poison the American body politic and bring it into dis-repute.

Re:Actions like these distinguish the system

[jschrod]

Ah, and he got popularity by remaining anonymous? Your argumentative logic is overwhelming.

*PLONK*

Re:Rebuilding America will take longer than that

[Ephemeriis]

The Bush/Cheney Administration has spent the last 6+ years building an organizational, legal, and technical infrastructure for Executive Branch power, including anything from wiretap infrastructures to the Patriot Act to stuffing the courts and Justice Department with pro-executive-power people, and getting states, banks, credit companies, airlines, etc. to do massive data collection.

Granted, the US Government has been moving in this direction for quite some time now. Each administration seeks additional power and information - supposedly to help them better govern and protect us. But with the Bush/Cheney administration everything seems to have come to a head. It seems like they're operating without any supervision at all.

It's going to take a *long* time to tear down that stuff and turn this back into America again, and most of that won't happen unless we replace the current Executive Branch with one that's actually committed to doing it

One of my major fears at the moment is that irreparable harm has been done to the US Government. It's very unlikely that we'll get any kind of visionary elected who actually wants to change things for the better...actually wants to go back to a restricted and accountable government... But even if we do, the infrastructure is all in place to make such a transition back to the old values difficult if not impossible. I suspect that, regardless of who we elect next time around, it's all going to be downhill from here.

Re:Actions like these distinguish the system

[griffjon]

I don't think we should even wait for the next elections; Bush and Dick have done so much outside the scope or in flagrant violation of their oaths of office that we should impeach the lousy SOBs. It's another 531 days before they leave office. Not that I'm a big Pelosi fan, but she wouldn't be actively ripping up the Constitution; and the hearings themselves would bring so many skeletons out of the closet that the neocon movement would just crumble.

Re:Let me correct that last sentence for you:

[FunWithKnives]

I wholeheartedly agree with you; I was focusing more upon how we let it get to the point that it has. We, as a whole, let our vigilance lapse long ago; otherwise, we would have enacted a multitude of necessary changes. You are right in that it generally does not matter who you vote for, or indeed whether you vote or abstain. The plurality voting system does an absolutely horrible job of representing everyone in a populous nation. Of course, full representation happens to be one of the main tenets of representative democracy.

The first thing that we need to do, in my view, is relegate plurality voting to the dustbin of history, and institute a system of proportional representation [wikipedia.org]. Everyone would have an infinitely greater chance of finding either a candidate or party (depending upon the version of PR used) that holds beliefs similar to their own. This has the potential to do away with the brunt of voter apathy, and would also result in more change, due to the multitude of views being expressed. Ironically, one of the main arguments against PR is that ballots would be "too complicated." This has been found to be untrue, and I recommend reading up on the history of proportional representation [mtholyoke.edu] in the United States to see why.

Another issue, which I see as allowing unrivaled corruption just as you do, is lobbyists. We need to completely abolish corporate lobbying. Along with this, two things need to be done. Real campaign finance reform. I stand behind banning any and all donations, and financing campaigns purely from public funds, with a (very low) cap. Of course candidates running independently would need a certain number or percentage of constituents behind them in order to benefit from this. With PR in place, however, it would not be so much of an issue as it is now. Also, we need to do something about corporations having our public "servants" in their back pockets. I propose setting a required timeframe, both before and after being elected to hold office, in which it is not possible to hold high managerial positions within a corporation. Say ten years or so. Some may say that this is unfair, but hell. What is more unfair? Someone not being able to be a CEO and receive a salary of millions for ten years, or the collective fucking of 300 million people? At least those running for office can choose whether or not to do so.

Yet another staple of the current system that needs to go is "career politicians." Quite frankly, it is disgusting that this has been allowed for so long within a supposedly democratic country. Relatively short term limits need to be set for every elected official, and there needs to be a requirement that one may only serve in a particular branch of government once. If a truly corrupt asshat somehow makes it into office, and for some reason we cannot get rid of him or her, the saving grace will be that term limit. The office of president comes to mind. Imagine if Bush was able to be reelected perpetually. Zany antics would ensue, of that I am certain.

Of course, all of this is just for starters, and it is very questionable as to whether half of it could even be instituted, considering how far gone we are already. Whether evolutionary or revolutionary, though, the fact remains that it does need to happen. As for me, I'm not holding out any sort of hope. I am currently planning to finish college, put in some time with the Peace Corps (or an alternative of some sort), and then get the hell out of the country. I will pursue my graduate degrees elsewhere. Unless something goes drastically right within the next four years or so, my views and those of this country (if I may anthropomorphize it) are diametrically opposed to one another.

Re:Actions like these distinguish the system

[Deadplant]

Almost every single person in Washington needs to be removed and sent home for a few years. Two complete years with none of the normal people in Washington.

If we were alone in this world, it would be a great thing to do. But we are just one country on this planet, so I'm not sure I want to imagine what a more openly anti-US country would do during that time.

My fantasy:

1) Bring your entire army and Navy home.
2) Deploy them on the borders for 5-10 years.
3) devolve responsibility for any vital domestic services to state governments.
3) Completely shut down your federal government.
4) hold 3-6 years of debates and referendums to decide what kind of federal system you want.
5) hold elections and construct/staff your new federal government agencies.

I would even recommend an amnesty for the criminals in the current system so that you can get a full account of what went wrong.