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U.S. accused of spying on those who disagree with Bush policies
Herald Today -- Brandenton.com, Florida ^ | 1/22/06 | WILLIAM E. GIBSON

Posted on 01/22/2006 12:43:16 PM PST by summer

WASHINGTON - While the White House defended domestic surveillance as a safeguard against terrorism, a Florida peace activist and several Democrats in Congress accused the Bush administration on Friday of spying on Americans who disagree with President Bush's policies.

Richard Hersh, of Boca Raton, Fla., director of Truth Project Inc. of Palm Beach County, told an ad hoc panel of House Democrats that his group and others in South Florida have been infiltrated and spied upon despite having no connections to terrorists.

"Agents rummaged through the trash, snooped into e-mails, packed Web sites and listened in on phone conversations," Hersh charged. "We know that address books and activist meeting lists have disappeared."

The Truth Project gained national attention when NBC News reported last month that it was described as a "credible threat" in a database of suspicious activity compiled by the Pentagon's Talon program. The listing cited the group's gathering a year ago at a Quaker meeting house in Lake Worth, Fla., to talk about ways to counter military recruitment at high schools.

Talon is separate from the controversial domestic-surveillance program conducted by the National Security Agency. Bush has acknowledged signing orders that allow the NSA to eavesdrop without the usual court warrants, prompting an outcry from many in Congress.

Bush plans to tour the NSA on Wednesday as part of a campaign to defend his handling of the program.

"This is a critical tool that helps us save lives and prevent attacks," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on Friday. "It is limited and targeted to al-Qaida communications, with the focus being on detection and prevention."

The Defense Department's Talon program collects data from a wide variety of sources, including military personnel and private citizens, Pentagon spokesman Greg Hicks said.

"They are unfiltered dots of information about perceived threats," Hicks said. "An analyst will look at that information. And what we are trying to do is connect the dots before the next major attack."

To Hersh and some members of Congress, the warrant-less surveillance and Talon are all a part of domestic-spying operations that threaten civil liberties of average Americans and put dissenters under a cloud of suspicion.

"Neither you nor anybody in that (Quaker) church had anything to do with terrorism," said Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla. "The fact is, the Truth Project may have a philosophy that is adverse to the political philosophy and goals of the president of the United States. And as a result of that different philosophy, the president and the secretary of defense ordered that your group be spied upon.

"There should not be a single American who today remains confident that it couldn't happen to them."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: dems; dod; govwatch; gw; homelandsecurity; nsa; politics; spying; talon
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Now -- what is this about, really? I don't know. One Dem site has this headline blaring like it's the biggest news since sliced bread. But, honestly -- are they claiming never before in the history of these United States has there been "spying" by one political group over another? Did Clinton's administration, for example, never, ever express any interest in what the other party was ever doing?

I really don't know about these things, and I am being quite honest when I say that.

But I am guessing that "spying" on one's political opponent, in some form, has probably been happening since the beginning of politics. Or am I wrong about that?? Or is this group correct? Or is it all a mistake, and they misplaced their activist lists? I have no idea what to make of all this.
1 posted on 01/22/2006 12:43:18 PM PST by summer
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To: summer

2 posted on 01/22/2006 12:44:31 PM PST by rickmichaels
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To: All

But the reason I ask is because these Dem sites are really hitting hysterical notes lately, at a fevor pitch, claiming the entire US of A is basically ending, with GW spying on them. It's not 2008 yet, so I am guessing this is not election campaign talk. Or is it? Are they paranoid? What is the deal here???


3 posted on 01/22/2006 12:44:52 PM PST by summer
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To: summer
Desparation time on the Leftist front.


4 posted on 01/22/2006 12:46:41 PM PST by DoughtyOne (01/11/06: Ted Kennedy becomes the designated driver and moral spokesperson for the Democrat party.)
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To: DoughtyOne

Well, that's true -- they really ARE sounding desperate! Is this what they're going to use and point to when they have to explain to voters why they have no new ideas?


5 posted on 01/22/2006 12:47:37 PM PST by summer
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To: summer

Aren't they confusing him with Clintoon, who used the IRS against political opponents.


6 posted on 01/22/2006 12:49:08 PM PST by white trash redneck (Everything I needed to know about Islam I learned on 9-11-01.)
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To: summer

Just my speculation:

Either this is all paranoia on the activists' part OR if this group is anything like Code Pink who gave money to insurgents then perhaps they were looked into, not for being anti-Bush but for possibly communicating with and/or aiding/abetting the enemy.


7 posted on 01/22/2006 12:49:33 PM PST by KJC1
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To: summer

Does thousands of FBI files stolen by the Clinton's come to mind?????


8 posted on 01/22/2006 12:50:01 PM PST by Coldwater Creek ("Over there, over there, We won't be back 'til it's over Over there.")
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To: white trash redneck

I think that is what the average voter will conclude from all this -- Clinton's administration did such and such, and this administration is now accused of so and so, and on it goes in the world of politics.


9 posted on 01/22/2006 12:50:16 PM PST by summer
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To: summer
Why Spy when Bush can see us through our computer monitors?


10 posted on 01/22/2006 12:52:12 PM PST by Dallas59 ((“You love life, while we love death"( Al-Qaeda & Democratic Party))
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To: summer

Maybe it was an inside job of someone that will sell the list to the KGB?


11 posted on 01/22/2006 12:53:31 PM PST by Wasanother (Terrorist come in many forms but all are RATS.)
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To: summer

So let me get this straight...

You have an open public meeting to talk about derailing military recruiting, and are shocked when the Feds show up?

You throw out your trash, but are shocked when some of it goes to Uncle Sam instead of that trash-diggin collie next door?

The ironic thing about these activists is that they are not fulfilled... happy, if you will... unless they are getting arrested, drug into court, sprayed with water hoses, etc. If they simply protested while people waved at them then they'd come home, light up some weed, and talk about how they weren't doing anything meaningful.


12 posted on 01/22/2006 12:53:41 PM PST by TWohlford
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To: Dallas59

Man - that is a moonbat face that could stop a thread.

Too funny.


13 posted on 01/22/2006 12:54:35 PM PST by Dinah Lord (fighting the islamic jihad one keystroke at a time...)
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To: summer

Well. If this group knows everything these "agents" are doing, they must be pretty poor "agents".

Or the Truth Project is paranoid. Or out for phony PR. Or a combination of all three.


14 posted on 01/22/2006 12:55:37 PM PST by siunevada (If we learn nothing from history, what's the point of having one? - Peggy Hill)
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To: white trash redneck

Yeah, how low could Clinton go? Well, sicking the IRS on conservatives is close enough for me : )


15 posted on 01/22/2006 12:55:42 PM PST by stephenjohnbanker
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To: summer

LBJ spied on Americans –Martin King Jr., many anti-war groups, assorted hippies and politicians …
If spies are after anyone who disagrees with President Bush’s policies, I better watch what I post – I don’t agree with his police on illegal immigrants.


16 posted on 01/22/2006 12:56:29 PM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: summer

Oh, puh-leeze!!! Several missing activist email lists, etc. Um, they could be deleted in an attempt to say that Bush stole them. Listening into phone conversations (where's your proof, you only said that they supposedly do), going through garbage cans (how the hell would you know if they were going through the garbage?).

Please, this is as laced with B.S. as Dan Rather.


17 posted on 01/22/2006 12:56:40 PM PST by benjibrowder (The government (at all levels) should not be involved in the education business.)
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To: summer
First of all, if Wexler says it, that doesn't make it true. On the other hand he's spoken up on behalf of terrorists before.

The leftwingnut sites are going nuts over this story. So far no one can find any facts to support it, but they do love the story.

18 posted on 01/22/2006 12:57:56 PM PST by muawiyah (-)
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To: TWohlford

They love to be miscreants. It's their goal in life.


19 posted on 01/22/2006 12:58:27 PM PST by benjibrowder (The government (at all levels) should not be involved in the education business.)
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To: summer

They're not paranoid. They just think everybody's out to get them.


20 posted on 01/22/2006 12:59:57 PM PST by samtheman
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