Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave...
When first we practice to deceive!--Sir Walter Scott, Marmion Canto vi. Stanza 17 (Source:Bartlett's Familiar Quotations)
Hello again readers, I hope everyone is doing well.
The subject of today's post is the NSA wiretapping affair. The title refers to the Bush Administration's obfuscation efforts regarding that program.
For those who don't know, multiple media sources are now reporting that three major communications companies (BellSouth, Verizon, and AT&T) have been supplying user/customer data to the NSA. The NSA has been using this data to discern the calling patterns of these companies' customers. This discernment is routinely referred to as "data-mining". The data being supplied isn't the US-origin-foreign-country-termination communications as previously claimed by Bush and the NSA, but domestic calling information. The Bush Administration, the NSA, and the communications companies involved are claiming that no customer's individual information (name, address, etc.) is being passed on to or stored by the NSA.
Well, whoop-de-doo, so no individual information is being passed to the NSA. Does that make the obtaining, storage, and data mining of such information right or legal? The answer is resoundingly no!
Despite the Bush Administration's best efforts to justify such actions, they have yet to prove that the program is legal under the Fourth Amendment. They also have yet to prove that the Executive branch has the right to enact such a program under Article 2 of the Constitution as Bush has previously claimed.
Furthermore, the Bush Administration's and NSA's claims that no individually identifiable information is being collected and stored lack are somewhat unbelievable to me. This administration has a severe credibility gap. The lies from the Bush White House concerning this program have ranged from "We're not illegally wiretapping American's communications" to "We're not tapping domestic communications" to "We aren't collecting individual's personal data." Everytime the administration has claimed that they aren't doing something, it turns out that they are doing exactly that. Couple the lies concerning this program with the lies about Iraq and their supposed WMDs, the lies concerning the federal response to Katrina, and the infamous "Mission accomplished" deception, and you begin to see how this administration might have a small credibility gap. And Bush wonders why his approval ratings are hanging around 30%!??! It is because the American people, even hardcore conservative Republicans, are sick of the lies.
As for the companies involved, we can't expect the whole truth out of them either. The companies involved (BellSouth, Verizon, and AT&T) have a vested interest in preventing the whole truth from coming out. Under the Federal Communications Act of 1934, communications companies are prohibited from handing out an individual customer's personal information except when required to do so by a search warrant. What that means is that if these companies have been giving the NSA individual customer information, and since the NSA program is warrantless, then these companies are guilty of committing a federal crime. The penalty for such a breach of the FCC Act of 1934 ranges from $130,000 to $1.35 million per violation per day. That means that, conceivably, these companies could be responsible for fines ranging from several million to several billion dollars depending on the number of violations and the length of their cooperation with the NSA. However, if the companies are not giving out individual information, only things such as general calling data (i.e., number of calls per day, peak usage hours, etc.), then they are breaking no laws and would not be responsible for such enormous fines. Now if I know this, I would certainly think that the management of these companies would know this, and no company is going to voluntarily disclose the fact that they have been betraying their customer's trust and violating federal laws. Therefore, I have to conclude that these companies will never tell the whole truth as to the extent of their cooperation with the NSA, nor will they ever disclose the entire truth as to what information they did give to the NSA.
I would like to see the termination of this illegal program immediately. I would also like to see a thorough (and I do mean THOROUGH) Congressional investigation of this entire program conducted by an impartial third party such as a special prosecutor who is neither Democrat nor Republican.
As long as I lived, I thought that I would never, ever see the day when a dissenter such as myself would have to be guarded in his criticisms of the government for fear of being targeted as a terrorist or terrorist supporter. I never thought that is my lifetime I would see the day that America would become a true police state. But now that big business has decided to forgo the best interests of their customers in the name of "national security", now that the government has decided that the citizens of this country are more of a threat than the terrorists and foreign powers, and now that the government's covenant with the people (the Constitution) has been violated and ignored by a power hungry madman who calls himself the President, that day has come. How sad will it be when, in years to come, people will tell their grandchildren, "I can remember the day when America became a dictatorial police state, and I did nothing to prevent it." Perhaps it is time for people to remember something that Thomas Jefferson once said and take action to prevent the government from robbing you of all of your rights. Jefferson once stated, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." How much do you fear your government?
I am Chuck, and this has been my rant.
Oh, and if this rant gets me on an NSA list, let me know so that I can change the subtitle to "now banned in 16 countries!"
Hello again readers, I hope everyone is doing well.
The subject of today's post is the NSA wiretapping affair. The title refers to the Bush Administration's obfuscation efforts regarding that program.
For those who don't know, multiple media sources are now reporting that three major communications companies (BellSouth, Verizon, and AT&T) have been supplying user/customer data to the NSA. The NSA has been using this data to discern the calling patterns of these companies' customers. This discernment is routinely referred to as "data-mining". The data being supplied isn't the US-origin-foreign-country-termination communications as previously claimed by Bush and the NSA, but domestic calling information. The Bush Administration, the NSA, and the communications companies involved are claiming that no customer's individual information (name, address, etc.) is being passed on to or stored by the NSA.
Well, whoop-de-doo, so no individual information is being passed to the NSA. Does that make the obtaining, storage, and data mining of such information right or legal? The answer is resoundingly no!
Despite the Bush Administration's best efforts to justify such actions, they have yet to prove that the program is legal under the Fourth Amendment. They also have yet to prove that the Executive branch has the right to enact such a program under Article 2 of the Constitution as Bush has previously claimed.
Furthermore, the Bush Administration's and NSA's claims that no individually identifiable information is being collected and stored lack are somewhat unbelievable to me. This administration has a severe credibility gap. The lies from the Bush White House concerning this program have ranged from "We're not illegally wiretapping American's communications" to "We're not tapping domestic communications" to "We aren't collecting individual's personal data." Everytime the administration has claimed that they aren't doing something, it turns out that they are doing exactly that. Couple the lies concerning this program with the lies about Iraq and their supposed WMDs, the lies concerning the federal response to Katrina, and the infamous "Mission accomplished" deception, and you begin to see how this administration might have a small credibility gap. And Bush wonders why his approval ratings are hanging around 30%!??! It is because the American people, even hardcore conservative Republicans, are sick of the lies.
As for the companies involved, we can't expect the whole truth out of them either. The companies involved (BellSouth, Verizon, and AT&T) have a vested interest in preventing the whole truth from coming out. Under the Federal Communications Act of 1934, communications companies are prohibited from handing out an individual customer's personal information except when required to do so by a search warrant. What that means is that if these companies have been giving the NSA individual customer information, and since the NSA program is warrantless, then these companies are guilty of committing a federal crime. The penalty for such a breach of the FCC Act of 1934 ranges from $130,000 to $1.35 million per violation per day. That means that, conceivably, these companies could be responsible for fines ranging from several million to several billion dollars depending on the number of violations and the length of their cooperation with the NSA. However, if the companies are not giving out individual information, only things such as general calling data (i.e., number of calls per day, peak usage hours, etc.), then they are breaking no laws and would not be responsible for such enormous fines. Now if I know this, I would certainly think that the management of these companies would know this, and no company is going to voluntarily disclose the fact that they have been betraying their customer's trust and violating federal laws. Therefore, I have to conclude that these companies will never tell the whole truth as to the extent of their cooperation with the NSA, nor will they ever disclose the entire truth as to what information they did give to the NSA.
I would like to see the termination of this illegal program immediately. I would also like to see a thorough (and I do mean THOROUGH) Congressional investigation of this entire program conducted by an impartial third party such as a special prosecutor who is neither Democrat nor Republican.
As long as I lived, I thought that I would never, ever see the day when a dissenter such as myself would have to be guarded in his criticisms of the government for fear of being targeted as a terrorist or terrorist supporter. I never thought that is my lifetime I would see the day that America would become a true police state. But now that big business has decided to forgo the best interests of their customers in the name of "national security", now that the government has decided that the citizens of this country are more of a threat than the terrorists and foreign powers, and now that the government's covenant with the people (the Constitution) has been violated and ignored by a power hungry madman who calls himself the President, that day has come. How sad will it be when, in years to come, people will tell their grandchildren, "I can remember the day when America became a dictatorial police state, and I did nothing to prevent it." Perhaps it is time for people to remember something that Thomas Jefferson once said and take action to prevent the government from robbing you of all of your rights. Jefferson once stated, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." How much do you fear your government?
I am Chuck, and this has been my rant.
Oh, and if this rant gets me on an NSA list, let me know so that I can change the subtitle to "now banned in 16 countries!"
posted by Chuck | 01:30
3 Comments:
there are so many emotions that i absolutely feel overwhelmed at times.
i am 58 years old and "thought" i lived in a free country.
when the schiavo fiasco was going on ,it became very personal for me as my health is bad and after 15 surgeries i have no trust for doctors.then i added government to the list.
i have found a small answer for me to feel able to help protect our freedoms.i ordered satellite to be installed and after that i will be FIRING bellsouth as my provider.if people feel this strongly about the outrage ,then it is time for at least a little hurt to be inflicted on the telecoms.government cant make us stay with the telecoms.hurry before they try to make that small step illegal.
sigh
br3n
You better watch out you dont end up in Guantanamo or a nice little secret prison in Eastern Europe!
Br3n and Tom,
Thanks for the comments.
First to address Br3n's comment, I am not so sure that getting satellite and firing BellSouth is answer. What I mean is that, so far, these are the only telecom companies that have been identified as cooperating with the NSA. There may be many more companies out there that have done the same thing without being identified as having done so. I only know of one company that has refused to divulge customer information. That company is Qwest. According to the USA Today, Qwest has refused to cooperate citing concerns with customer privacy and possible legal troubles (under the FCCA). I think what will go the furthest and be the most effective is to show up at the ballot box in November. While there may not be enough members of Congress up for reelection to change both the House and Senate from Republican control to Democrat control, there are enough to possibly sway the direction of the current inquiries into the NSA program. Furthermore, what is needed right now is for a case (such as the EFF action against AT&T) to come to trial. Judicial review of this program, even through a civil case, could stop it cold. Personally, I am not sure which course of action would be the best to follow in ending the program. Congress has repeatedly let the people down as have the courts. I just know that the the program is illegal, in opposition to everything that this country stands for, and needs to be stopped.
Tom, as for your comments, LOL. I am not too worried about it quite yet. I am also sure that there is still time to change things before it becomes THAT bad (famous last words). But that time is running out and now is the time for action.
Thanks again for the comments Br3n and Tom.
--Chuck.
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