And Greenwald's post immediately preceding this one linked by Steve, regarding Nero Jr's "bad law" defense, is also indispensible reading.
For that minority of Americans who care that the president is intentionally violating existing federal law, that is.
Posted by euzoius at January 24, 2006 01:15 PMthe bush administration wants it to be easier to spy on americans than on non-americans because if you lower the standard for non-americans all of a sudden the NSA is up to its eyeballs in uncomfortable connections.
Posted by benjoya at January 24, 2006 01:23 PMIsikoff reported that the NSA was spying on people handing out pbj sandwiches in front of Halliburton. A violation of civil liberties and also stupid at the same time! These idiots really don't know who the terrorists are do they?
Posted by Ga6thDem at January 24, 2006 01:25 PMIt's not about "terrorists" despite what assholes like crappy and Toby say...it's about muzzling American opposistion to the president and his policies. It's that simple. Eventually we are gonna find out who they have been spying/eavedropping etc...on and it's not gonna be pretty for the thugs in the white house.
Posted by John B. at January 24, 2006 01:40 PMPoorman's got some nice speculation today about what actually went down at the NSA. Sounds as plausible as it can be without more info.
Posted by iamcoyote at January 24, 2006 01:55 PMNSA was spying on people handing out pbj sandwiches in front of Halliburton. …Posted by Ga6thDemMaybe peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are deadly weapons if used in conjunction with Halliburton's Iraq water? Nah, the water itself was a deadly weapon. Posted by Mike at January 24, 2006 02:27 PM
So Bush was for warrants before he was against them.
Posted by goose1 at January 24, 2006 02:59 PMHere's just one of my random thoughts driving home from school today:
It's kinda funny how Conservatives label Dems. as akin to Communism in our overall philosophy and means of governing. Of course that is to the extreme, but that label has always been thrown around.
Given the recent events of Bush's secret domestic spying program, Bush's secret rendition program to punish Muslims who are accused of terrorist acts without due process, Gonzales' attempts to peek into every email, every Google search, every international postal mail delivered, every library checkout, all in the name of fighting crime,
I tend to wonder who really sounds more like a Communist - the Left or the current Bush apologia? Who sounds more like the KGB?
And has anyone also observed the meaning and history of the word "fascism", by Mussolini? I wasn't aware of the original meaning incorporating "corporativism". Interesting quote in the encyclopedia here:
" "Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato." ("Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State".) Therefore, he reasoned, all individuals' business is the state's business, and the state's existence is the sole duty of the individual.
Another key distinguishing feature of fascism is that it uses a mass movement to attack or absorb the organizations of the working class: parties of the left and trade unions. Peter Fritzsche and others have described fascism as a militant form of right-wing populism. This mobilization strategy involves Corporatism, Corporativism, or the Corporative State, all terms that refer to state action to partner with key business leaders, often in ways chosen to minimize the power of labor unions. Mussolini, for example, capitalized on fear of a Communist revolution, finding ways to unite Labor and Capital, to Labor's ultimate detriment. In 1926 he created the National Council of Corporations, divided into guilds of employers and employees, tasked with managing 22 sectors of the economy. The guilds subsumed both labor unions and management, but were heavily weighted in favor of the corporations and their owners. The moneyed classes in return helped him change the country's laws to raise his stature from a coalition leader to a supreme commander. The movement was supported by small capitalists, low-level bureaucrats, and the middle classes, who had all felt threatened by the rise in power of the Socialists. Fascism also met with great success in rural areas, especially among farmers, peasants, and in the city, the lumpenproletariat."
Sound familiar?
Thomas Frank couldn't have hit it better on the head with a description of the modern day "backlash" movement by the so-called populist Conservatives. Too many parallels.
Posted by MisterOpus1 at January 24, 2006 03:15 PMoops, here's the link to the quote above:
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Fascism
Posted by MisterOpus1 at January 24, 2006 03:16 PMI just had this argument with my sister yesterday. MisterOpus1, This is exactly how it's playing out. Bring in Prescott Bush's dreams into play and Jr. will have ful-filled both his father and grandfathers legacies.
Only the meglomania doesn't stop at the USA, he will only be content until he has the whole world in the throes of WWIII.
He is the fucking devil incarnate!
Wow!Busted!Big!Time!
Everyone hear that....crickets chirping....it's beautiful. Guess the talking points haven't arrived yet.
Posted by emal at January 24, 2006 04:47 PM"It's about muzzling American opposistion to the president and his policies. It's that simple."
John B. you couldn't be more correct. Don't lose sight of what this is really about.
Posted by at January 24, 2006 08:47 PMabove post by me
Posted by Judith at January 24, 2006 08:48 PM"I just had this argument with my sister yesterday. MisterOpus1, This is exactly how it's playing out. Bring in Prescott Bush's dreams into play and Jr. will have ful-filled both his father and grandfathers legacies.
Only the meglomania doesn't stop at the USA, he will only be content until he has the whole world in the throes of WWIII.
He is the fucking devil incarnate!"
Bbtb, GWB could be the anti-Christ. Afterall, the anti-Christ comes as an angel of light, appearing to be a compassionate conservative. Then just when the people don't expect it, the doors of hell are opened up. George is fulfilling the plans of the Brotherhood of Death, plans that have long been in the making. You are right, Prescott and Daddy must be very proud of their evil offspring.
Posted by Judith at January 24, 2006 09:02 PMHeads-up...just saw CNN Headline News use the Baker quotes in a FISA story.
Posted by wally at January 25, 2006 11:18 AM