GMF 01/26/08

GOOD MORNING FLINT! 01/26/08 A somewhat Dailey blog by Terry Bankert http://attorneybankert.com/ President Bush wants Congress to broaden the government's powers to eavesdrop on private conversations without court approval. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, a controversial public surveillance law is set to expire February 1.(SR) President Bush says the government's ability to listen-in on telephone calls is critical to fighting terror. (SR) —SUMMARY– Wire tapping bad, terrorist bad, wire tapping needed, oversight needed, Bush is wrong to not advocate stronger oversight of the wire tapping ability.(trb) ___ As much as I instinctively oppose this I have to agree.(trb) "One of the most important tools is to be able to figure out the intentions of an enemy that still wants to do us harm," he said. "If they are making calls into America, we need to know why they are calling, what they are thinking, and what they are planning."(SR) We have to recognize how people communicate. Much communication occurs on the phone and the internet. Name a person who does not have a cell phone or an emaill address.(trb) U.S. intelligence agents currently monitor international phone calls between people in the United States and suspected terrorists under a law known as the Protect America Act. That law expires next Friday, but President Bush says the threat to America will not.(SR) We need a full review by congress with a focus on constitutional safeguards and then continuation of the prodigy of this act.(trb) He wants legislation that permanently extends that authority, grants broader powers to wiretap without court approval and gives legal immunity to telephone companies that have helped the government monitor communications.(SR) Extending the authority is reasonable and should be done. As authority is broadened with less incremental court review, that review must become more mandatory and periodic and deeper. The private sector should get no immunity. Their own sense of self preservation will force their questions into court which will protect us all. I do not want government walking hand in hand with the private sector when my rights to privacy are at stake. (trb) "It will maintain the vital flow of intelligence on terrorist threats," he added. "It will protect the privacy of Americans while making sure we do not extend those same protections to terrorists overseas. It will provide liability protection to companies now facing billions of dollars in lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted the efforts to defend our nation following the 9/11 attacks."(SR) All I ask is that Congress give this a full and meaningful debate as to the adequacy of the protections. The results of the lawsuits will make for a better America. Corporate American was took quick to violate our privacy rights. We are not a fascist society, they are accountable.(trb) The president told a meeting of House Republicans in the state of West Virginia that the government's ability to respond quickly to new threats will be weakened if the law is not renewed in time.(SR) GW cries wolf too often.(trb) Critics say more oversight is needed to protect the privacy rights of Americans. Opposition Democrats say if the government wants to monitor communications between suspected terrorists abroad and people in the United States, it should get approval from a secret court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).(SR) We already have the FISA that reports to a closed congressional committee. Its all that we can reasonably do. Lets strengthen FISA.(trb) North Dakota Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan says President Bush is politicizing an issue that ought to be about protecting the nation as well as its civil liberties (SR). "We thought we had done that by putting together the FISA court," he said. "We thought we had done that by establishing a procedure that needed to be followed. We now understand that the president with his lawyers say those laws don't matter. There is in the Constitution, they say, something about the powers of the Commander-in-Chief, and he can do whatever he wants. That is a pretty dangerous interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. We debate this in so much ignorance, because almost no one knows what this administration has done."(SR) After months of resistance, the White House agreed Thursday to give Congress access to internal documents on the wiretapping program and the legal basis for its establishment.(SR) Please read the previous sentence. Who does Bush think he is!(trb) -end- My approach here is to simply take an article ( I prefer editorials) and turn it into a conversation, here a blog conversation. My purpose is to learn my own position and lay it out. In the process I learn. For the reader an opportunity to reflect on their own interpretation of information given to us by the media. I do not think we can uncritically accept unchallenged what the commercial media feeds us any longer. I do not think I do this particularly well, but I am doing it. (Trb) Posted here by Terry Bankert http://attorneybankert.com/ - (SR) Voice of America the Sterns report http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-01-25-voa47.cfm (trb) Comments of Terry Bankert 33935

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