Big Brother Bush Administration Run Amok Against Privacy Rights
Yet another consequence of this terrible Bush administration that truly deserves the pejorative Big Brother.
From the LATimes: "The number of Americans being secretly wiretapped or having their financial and other records reviewed by the government has continued to increase as officials aggressively use powers approved after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of terrorism prosecutions ending up in court -- one measure of the effectiveness of such sleuthing -- has continued to decline, in some cases precipitously.
"The trends, visible in new government data and a private analysis of Justice Department records, are worrisome to civil liberties groups and some legal scholars. They say it is further evidence that the government has compromised the privacy rights of ordinary citizens without much to show for it.
"The emphasis on spy programs also is starting to give pause to some members of Congress who fear the government is investing too much in anti-terrorism programs at the expense of traditional crime-fighting. Other lawmakers are raising questions about how well the FBI is performing its counter-terrorism mission."
All the more reason not to grant retroactive immunity to corporate telecoms who ignored the law and conspired with this criminal Bush corporatist administration.
The article continues: "Even some former government officials concede many intelligence investigations fail to yield evidence of a serious threat to the U.S. 'Most of these threats ultimately turn out to be wrong, or maybe just the investigating makes them go away,' said Washington lawyer Michael Woods, former head of the FBI national security law unit. 'A lot more information is going to pass through government hands, and most of that is going to be about people who turn out to be innocent or irrelevant.' "
The Bush administration has politicized government agencies including those that gather intelligence. This fear and hate mongering anti-Constitution, anti-rule of law, anti-privacy rights administration has run amok against people's rights. It's time to stop this insanity.
And impeachment is still off the table.
From the LATimes: "The number of Americans being secretly wiretapped or having their financial and other records reviewed by the government has continued to increase as officials aggressively use powers approved after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of terrorism prosecutions ending up in court -- one measure of the effectiveness of such sleuthing -- has continued to decline, in some cases precipitously.
"The trends, visible in new government data and a private analysis of Justice Department records, are worrisome to civil liberties groups and some legal scholars. They say it is further evidence that the government has compromised the privacy rights of ordinary citizens without much to show for it.
"The emphasis on spy programs also is starting to give pause to some members of Congress who fear the government is investing too much in anti-terrorism programs at the expense of traditional crime-fighting. Other lawmakers are raising questions about how well the FBI is performing its counter-terrorism mission."
All the more reason not to grant retroactive immunity to corporate telecoms who ignored the law and conspired with this criminal Bush corporatist administration.
The article continues: "Even some former government officials concede many intelligence investigations fail to yield evidence of a serious threat to the U.S. 'Most of these threats ultimately turn out to be wrong, or maybe just the investigating makes them go away,' said Washington lawyer Michael Woods, former head of the FBI national security law unit. 'A lot more information is going to pass through government hands, and most of that is going to be about people who turn out to be innocent or irrelevant.' "
The Bush administration has politicized government agencies including those that gather intelligence. This fear and hate mongering anti-Constitution, anti-rule of law, anti-privacy rights administration has run amok against people's rights. It's time to stop this insanity.
And impeachment is still off the table.
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