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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
 Posted - 01/04/2007 : 10:23:44
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Link
quote:
President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant.
Bush asserted the new authority Dec. 20 after signing legislation that overhauls some postal regulations. He then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and contradicting the bill he had just signed, according to experts who have reviewed it.
A White House spokeswoman disputed claims that the move gives Bush any new powers, saying the Constitution allows such searches.
Still, the move, one year after The New York Times' disclosure of a secret program that allowed warrantless monitoring of Americans' phone calls and e-mail, caught Capitol Hill by surprise.
"Despite the president's statement that he may be able to circumvent a basic privacy protection, the new postal law continues to prohibit the government from snooping into people's mail without a warrant," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the incoming House Government Reform Committee chairman, who co-sponsored the bill.
Experts said the new powers could be easily abused and used to vacuum up large amounts of mail.
I await the next terrorist attack when the administration will formally establish a police state. Of course, they will keep telling the public and worlds that we are a democracy with security.
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by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart. |
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Neurosis
SFN Regular
USA
675 Posts |
 Posted - 01/04/2007 : 12:29:50 [Permalink]
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| Can't we impeach someone for trying to establish a dictatorship? |
Facts! Pssh, you can prove anything even remotely true with facts.
- Homer Simpson
[God] is an infinite nothing from nowhere with less power over our universe than the secretary of agriculture.
- Prof. Frink
Lisa: Yes, but wouldn't you rather know the truth than to delude yourself for happiness?
Marge: Well... um.... [goes outside to jump on tampoline with Homer.] |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2007 : 14:18:04 [Permalink]
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He needs to have his nuts stomped on, hard.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2007 : 19:29:48 [Permalink]
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An impeachment is certainly warranted, but would be difficult to pull off. I would settle for the nut-stomping.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2007 : 21:22:44 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by HalfMooner
An impeachment is certainly warranted, but would be difficult to pull off. I would settle for the nut-stomping.
Add golf cleats and I'm with ya. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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Neurosis
SFN Regular
USA
675 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2007 : 22:34:45 [Permalink]
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Okay, well lets start writing congress:
Dear congressman,
I was shopping in Academy Sports today in order to pick out my favorite nut-stomping gear....
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Facts! Pssh, you can prove anything even remotely true with facts.
- Homer Simpson
[God] is an infinite nothing from nowhere with less power over our universe than the secretary of agriculture.
- Prof. Frink
Lisa: Yes, but wouldn't you rather know the truth than to delude yourself for happiness?
Marge: Well... um.... [goes outside to jump on tampoline with Homer.] |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2007 : 23:43:33 [Permalink]
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CSPAN ran Senator Arlen Specter, Republican from Penn.'s Nov speech today. I was surprised at how anti-government spying the topics in his Bills and amendments are. It's nice these cow-towed Republicans are finally getting some balls to go against the Rove unified wall of silence (enforced by stab 'you in the back' Party Power I presume).
this speech today on CSPAN. quote:
SENATOR SPECTER SPEAKS ON THE SENATE FLOOR REGARDING HABEAS CORPUS
Senator Arlen Specter
Nov 27, 2006 - Mr. President, substantively, my amendment would retain the constitutional right of habeas corpus for people detained at Guantanamo. The bill before the Senate strips the Federal district court of jurisdiction to hear these cases. The right of habeas corpus was established in the Magna Carta in 1215 when, in England, there was action taken against King John to establish a procedure to prevent illegal detention.
What the bill seeks to do is to set back basic rights by some 900 years. This amendment would strike that provision and make certain that the constitutional right and the statutory right--but fundamentally the constitutional right of habeas corpus--is maintained. The core provision is contained in article I, section 9, clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states:
The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
We do not have either rebellion or invasion...
And he mentioned some older issues like Sen. Specter preparing bill to sue Bush; Republican committee chairman fighting against 'signing statements' and he said some stuff about the warrantless eavesdropping being illegal though I don't see these in the transcript unless I missed them.
But I see this was in a June 06 news article.
quote:
...Another part of the Specter bill would grant blanket amnesty to anyone who authorized warrantless surveillance under presidential authority, a provision that seems to ensure that no one would be held criminally liable if the current program is found illegal under present law.
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| Edited by - beskeptigal on 01/04/2007 23:47:31 |
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