Domestic spying defies odds already in president's favor (BARF AND LAUGH ALERT)

Star Newspapers (Chicago) ^ | Sunday, January 8, 2006 | David Johnson, Star columnist

[Chi-townChief]

How would you like the odds of winning to be about 5,000 to 1 in your favor at one of the local riverboat casinos?

Most people would jump at the chance to take that bet and would do it every hour on the hour each day of the week. To say it is a good bet is an understatement.

With odds like those one would need a dump truck to haul away your winnings.

The Bush administration for some reason does not like those odds. Those odds happen to be the odds of rejection for requests for domestic spying by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, court. Out of nearly 20,000 requests for permission only four were denied.

Keep in mind these requests could be made after the spying was under way. All the government had to do was approach the FISA court. Approval was denied once out of every 5,000 requests since the court was created in 1978.

Apparently the president and his minions did not like those odds and decided to bypass the court and spy on those who "received calls from al-Qaida" — to use the president's words — and countless other Americans.

Friends and foes of the president recognize the actions of his administration as being a violation of FISA. Some observers claim it is an impeachable offense.

Why would the White House choose to avoid a process that was bound to grant your wish whether you approached the FISA court before or after you took action?

It is comparable to some one going up to a betting window of a casino and threatening a teller with a gun and demanding money when all one has to do is place a bet and be assured of winning 4,999 times out of 5,000.

It does not make sense.

Prior to the creation of the FISA court the FBI spied on Martin Luther King and other civil rights organizations and sought to undermine them. FBI agents infiltrated labor unions, college campus organizations and anti-war groups under the auspices of a Counter Intelligence Program, better known as COINTELPRO.

A U.S. Senate investigation found that between 1960 and 1974, the FBI conducted a half million investigations of so-called subversives without a single conviction. That agency maintained files on well over 1 million Americans.

The FBI tapped phones, opened mail, planted bugs and burglarized homes and offices. At least 26,000 individuals were at one point cataloged on an FBI list of persons to be rounded up in the event of a "national emergency," according a Village Voice article this past week.

Are we witnessing a replay of the abuses of the 1960s, '70s and '80s by this administration?

Russell Tice, who was recently terminated by the National Security Agency after he spoke out as a whistleblower, described the FISA court this way during an interview on Democracy Now, an independent radio and television news program:

" I kind of liken the FISA court to a monkey with a rubber stamp. The monkey sees a name, the monkey sees a word justification with a block of information. It can't read the block, but it just stamps 'affirmed' on the block and a banana chip rolls out, and then the next paper rolls in front of the monkey. When you have like 20,000 requests and only, I think, four were turned down, you can't look at the FISA court as anything different."

Did the Bush administration bypass the rubber stamp FISA court because most of the domestic spying was for domestic political purposes and not the war on terrorism?

Is the heat being gradually turned up on American civil liberties in the same way the heat is turned up on a lobster? Will the use of fear and the threat of attack cause the American public to relax their protection of civil liberties while the balance of power in the government is eroded and before the people realize it their democracy has been cooked?

Tice described himself and most of the employees of the National Security Agency as Republicans. He said the NSA is choked with fear and most workers are afraid to speak out.

He stated that he voted for Bush in both elections and even donated to his campaigns. He is proud of the fact that he's received a Christmas card from the president.

But he said he swore an oath to protect the Constitution.

And that is why he has asked to testify before Congress — and why he came forward as a whistleblower.

David Johnson's "Subject to Change" appears every other week in The Star. Johnson is a professor at South Suburban College in South Holland and a former mayor of Harvey. He may be reached at djohnson@southsuburbancollege.edu.

[joseph20]

Friends and foes of the president recognize the actions of his administration as being a violation of FISA. Some observers claim it is an impeachable offense.

Authorization for Use of Military Force:

One Hundred Seventh Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the third day of January, two thousand and one

Joint Resolution

To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.

Whereas, on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States and its citizens; and

Whereas, such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that the United States exercise its rights to self-defense and to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad; and

Whereas, in light of the threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by these grave acts of violence; and

Whereas, such acts continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States; and

Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force'.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

(b) War Powers Resolution Requirements-

(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.

(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this resolution supercedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.