Bush Doesn't Confirm NSA Data Collection

AP on Yahoo ^ | 5/11/06 | Laurie Kellman - ap

[MNJohnnie]

Or maybe the Govt realizes you are a dead end and drops you from the investigation since it would be a waste of very finite time and resources to follow you up on you when they could be actually going after REAL bad guys.

Too much fantasy and Hollywood Movie thinking involved in this story, too little grasp of how things really work. The Govt has enough REAL bad guys to chase, they have no need nor desire to chase YOU. Even if they WANTED to a few thousand Govt Bureaucrats cannot chase every one of 300 million American Citizens. You have to become an object of suspicion before they come looking for you. They got too much to do and too little to do it with to waste time on little old Freeper A who happened to call the pizza joint where Terrorist C worked.

[taxed2death]

I agree...I was merely pointing out how the software works.

[NormsRevenge]

No problem! :)

afp is sleeping at the wheel, btw, nothing from them yet.

[Doohickey]

Actually, I agree with you. I think the Bush Administration is straight-up using the information collected by NSA to root out terror.

But you overlooked or ignored the larger point. What happens when the nanny-state Democrats take over and start using those records to root out people who order pizza more than once a week. Or look for Second Amendment types, or pro-life activists? If you think that won't happen, think back to the Clinton years and Waco or Ruby Ridge.

President Bush I trust to do what he says. The other guys...not so much.

[Beckwith]

that the National Security Agency was collecting records of tens of millions of ordinary Americans' phone calls.

Well, I will confirm the fact that they "are not collecting" the calls records of every phone call made by three of the four major communications carriers.

Those records are "being provided" by the three major carriers, all of which have already spoken on the legality of the process.

It is a common process to provide these records to police departments and district and country attornies and state attorney generals for a multitude of reasons.

The carrier that does not provide calls records is out there in Colorado and provides services to the loony Northwest.

By the way, you can Google "phone records" and find providers that will sell you these records.

You can also go to AMERICAblog, that just bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for $89.95.

AMERICAblog

[Snidely Whiplash]

I'm guessing this reporter doesn't think there are al-Qaida/terrorist cells in the US.

Or that their right to privacy outweighs any potential threat they may pose

What about our right to privacy?

You want the government to have a list of every phone call you make - when, to whom, and for how long, without a warrant, or even a remote suspicion that you might be doing something wrong? Is it their business who we call?

You say, "But I'm not doing anything wrong, so I have nothing to fear." Right now, you might be right. But you're injured nonetheless. Because once you've lost a right, getting it back is difficult. And the next guy in charge, or a guy several elections along, might not be someone you trust with that power.

Let's take it a step further - would you be in fact okay with the government actually listening in on your phone conversations without a warrant or even suspicion, keeping track of what you're talking about?

How about a little bit further - how's about the government actually watching you - tailing you when you go about your business, sitting outside your house 24/7 with cameras, listening devices etc.? Uncomfortable yet?

How about reading your mail without your knowledge? Just to make sure you're not corresponding with Osama, or the next Mohammed Atta, or something.

Even a bit further - how about government agents bugging your house without a warrant, without suspicion? Oh, but they're not using the recordings for anything. They promise.

Oh - and they might go through your things while they're in there planting the listening devices. Just to make sure you're not up to something, you know. Strictly routine.

After all, you don't have anything to hide, do you?

SW

[Glenn]

The BushBots are replicating. Run for your lives!

[rudabaga]

Wait a sec, is it determined to be legal only depending on who is in power? either its legal or it isn't.

i love these so-called patriots who say, "spy on me! i have nothing to hide!" those who say that must be TERRIFIED. i live in NYC and i'm just not scared enough to give the government whatever it wants. get a backbone folks.

[cookcounty]

" Qwest, has refused to turn over records to the program,

Qwest, preferred telecommunication carrier of Jihadists.

Press Traitors and Idiots..., Now the Jihadis know they can avoid detection by running their e-mails and calls through Denver,

[Prost1]

It is legal to listen to conversations with Al Qaeda.
Congress did declare war on Al Qaeda.

It is legal to listen to conversations with non-citizens.
Non-citizens are not Constitutionally protected.

Which category are you in?

[gpilot]

You may want to consider this quote from the nominee for Director ofthe CIA, General Hyden:

"I have met personally with prominent corporate executive officers. (One senior executive confided that the data management needs we outlined to him were larger than any he had previously seen). [...] And last week we cemented a deal with another corporate giant to jointly develop a system to mine data that helps us learn about our targets."
http://www.nsa.gov/releases/relea00072.html

Yes, the government is very interested in this data!

In fact, they are so interested that they make note of it and keep it forever, so that at any time, anyone in the Government can look at a record of every single person whom every single American ever called or from whom they received a call. It doesn't take a professional privacy advocate to find that creepy, invasive, dangerous and un-American.

Come on people, do you really trust tomorrow's (as yet unknown) political leaders?

NOT ME!

The values being expressed by some on this thread are truly scary!!

[Txsleuth]

Those "tomorrow's leaders" that you worry about MIGHT be Islamofacist leaders if we DON'T do this...

I will NOT take that chance..

[digThisXL]

gundog: here here!!!

[digThisXL]

I meant.... snidely whiplash above. :-)

[gpilot]

*Those "tomorrow's leaders" that you worry about MIGHT be Islamofacist leaders if we DON'T do this...*

I agree with half of what you said... they may be facist but of the homegrown variety... and they will have your number and everyone you have called for years (doctor, lawyer, counselor, ex-girlfriend, maybe a out of favor political leader...).

[digThisXL]

I'm all about W and him being the man. I trust him.

However I am not willing to give up ANY of my privacy.

So now what do we do?

[Doohickey]

It *is* legal, but it shouldn't be. That's my point. I don't like the fact that the NSA knows what numbers I've dialed. But for now this sort of activity is legal, and I believe President Bush because he's got a track record of honest.

You and both know how government incrementalism works. Today it's terrorists. Tomorrow it's smokers, gun collectors and religious people. It needs to be stopped now.

[torchthemummy]

Bush said any domestic intelligence-gathering measures he's approved are "lawful," and he says "appropriate" members of Congress have been briefed.

Does Harry Reid have another handwritten letter filed stating his opposition while publicly playing the suprised law maker?

[santorumlite]

Nobody is being spied on.

They are taking al queda calls from the middle east to the u.s.

Then they take the call at the recieving end in the u.s and see who that person is talking too.

Before 9/11 wouldn't you have wanted to connect the calls from the middle east to atta and then who is he talking to.


9/11 commission said fisa acts to stop communication. Fisa blocked us from looking at moussawi's computers. Agents need to be able to act.

I am getting tired of the media equating tracking terrorists for domestic spying.


The same media that blamed bush for 9/11 and we had a commission is now blaming him for trying to stop attacks.

Enough is enough.

You can't fight the war on terror with this media.

Now these terrorists just have to use quest to discuss their plans.

The next mohammed atta can use quest to attack america.

And guess who will be blamed because the terrorists took advantage and attacked america.

Bush will be blamed. If he tries to stop attacks he gets blamed and if we get attacked bush gets blame.

Time for Bush to resign because the media is not letting him govern.

If we are attacked the media is going to have hell to pay.

[gundog]

"But I'm not doing anything wrong, so I have nothing to fear.

I reject that arguement whenever I hear it regarding background checks for firearm purchases, so I know where you're coming from. But these conversations are detected by filters and I doubt that the feds have time to sort through a tenth of what they capture.

You want the government to have a list of every phone call you make - when, to whom, and for how long, without a warrant, or even a remote suspicion that you might be doing something wrong? Is it their business who we call?

All they need is probable cause and a warrant will be issued. All they'll get is bored and some wisecracks on FR.

You paint a picture of a govrrnment run amok...and I concur. So what? It's been that way for awhile and it's only gonna get worse. Keep yer powder dry and yer head down.