Domestic Spying

The big news while I was away was that Bush had approved the NSA to spy on US citizens (those called by suspected terrorists) without a warrant. I know it made the news for several days but after that I didn't see much about it. I think this is a huge deal.

It's so obviously a violation of the 4th amendment and I still haven't heard Bush give a single reason (let alone a good one) why a warrant would have been to difficult in these cases. If you forgot, the Patriot Act amended FISA to make getting these warrants easier. Even still in a press conference on Dec 19, 2005, Attorney General Gonazles and General Hayden gave crap answers. They cite speed as a special circumstance, but these warrants by FISA often take less than hour, and are sometimes gotten after the fact as was asked. Gonzales ignored that part.

Gonzales' view seems to be that since we're at war, the president can do anything. That sounds absurd to me. First I don't think that's the case, second are we really at war? Congress hasn't declared it and when do you know you've defeated an enemy in a constant state of hiding? Giving the president any powers he wants by this reasoning is really "indefinite dictatorial power" according to security expert Bruce Schneier.

On Dec 22, 2005, the DoJ put out a memo citing various precedents for his actions. It will take me longer to go through those though several of those are sealed which doesn't make me happy. I do point to this debunking of the memo on Think Progress. Others have posted more analysis but I need more time to go through it all.

Today in the Boston Globe was an article (from the Baltimore Sun) entitled
Surveillance Controversy Puts NSA Back Into Harsh Spotlight. That cites James Bamford, who wrote the (well actually both) book(s) on the NSA, "there is no question that after the Sept. 11 attacks the agency broke the law."

Remember, the issue here isn't so much the domestic spying, as much as doing so without a warrant, in violation of FISA. Bush has made it very clear this is what he did. This will be fun once the hearings start.