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POPSSupport the JUSTICE Act to Amend PATRIOT ACT Abuses This is about the Constitution and freedom for Americans from government intrusion. Read this and consider contacting your Congressmen immediately. This is a non-partisan issue. If conservative republicans in particular really support the Constitution they need to man-up and support this to really "defend freedom", instead of paying lip service to our liberties! What do you think 1776 was all about anyway? It was about restraining government from tyranny, in particular from the more conservative Tories under King George! Obama wants to continue the same Bush provisions...is that good....to sacrifice your precious liberties for "security"? You ought to know better than that: Those Who Would Sacrifice Liberty for Security Deserve Neither -- Ben Franklin "In short, the JUSTICE Act would give government agents powerful tools to spy on suspected terrorists, while preventing them from spying on YOU."
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POPSObama Embraces Patriot Act; As Senator He Was Skeptical I would like to hear the speech that explains this "embrace" of the Patriot Act. which collects and stores records on thousands of Americans; what the data includes is unclear; how many Americans are part of the database is unclear; the safeguards in place to prevent abuse is also unclear.
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POPSThe difference between "legal" and "illegal" The surveillance controversy is not and never has been over whether the Government should be able to intercept the communications of Terrorist suspects. The law (FISA) has always allowed such interception since its inception and virtually nobody opposes that. Nor was there controversy about whether the NSA could intercept foreign-to-foreign communications, as they did here. The controversy was and is whether they should be able to engage in surveillance of American citizens in violation of the law -- i.e., without judicial oversight and/or beyond the parameters the law allows.
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POPSReport: Bush program extended beyond wiretapping The report also questions the legal advice used by President Bush to set up the program, pinpointing omissions and questionable legal memos written by Yoo at the Justice Department. The report suggests Yoo ignored an explicit provision in the FISA law designed to restrict the government's authority to conduct electronic surveillance during wartime. And it said flaws in Yoo's memos later presented "a serious impediment" to recertifying the program.
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POPSObama Gets What He Wished For Well look who's squirming now. Once again, and now under a Democrat President, Democrats find themselves in a panic over being seen as weak on terrorism. In the environment created by President Obama's hasty decisions, selective release of documents from his predecessor's administration, and constant droning on about the miserable legacy he inherited, Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to cover up her own participation in the Congressional-Executive consultations on terrorist interrogation -- and then attempted to deflect evidence to the contrary by dismissing the US intelligence community as serial liars. Not a single, credible observer believes her account, she was rebuked by her own party's CIA Director, and her number two in the House leadership openly discussed the need for a independent review of her comments.
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POPSThe ultimate reaping of what one sows: right-wing edition From the article: When you cheer on a Surveillance State, you have no grounds to complain when it turns its eyes on you. If you create a massive and wildly empowered domestic surveillance apparatus, it's going to monitor and investigate domestic political activity. That's its nature. I'd love to know how many of the participants in today's right-wing self-victim orgy uttered a peep of protest about any of this, from 2005:
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POPSGitmo is not so bad, after all And of course, a Democrat could never, ever have anything to do with economic disaster. And Bush and his administration never warned congress about Fannie and Freddie and this sort of stuff, or asked for some revisions to a ruinous policy. You believe that, right? Of course you do. Such disorientation. Everything “unacceptable” about the last 8 years is now “acceptable.” Except, of course, the “wiser countries” led by tyrants and despots are our new friends, and our old friends are either being sacrificed or left to precede us to implosion. Oh, and human rights - an issue for which Bush’s commitment was never much discussed in his own country Ah, well, these days human rights are less important than money, honey. Up is down. War is Peace. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. Such disorientation.
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POPSFox News "war games" the coming civil war From the article: They're the same people who believed that Bill Clinton's use of the FISA court to obtain warrants to eavesdrop on Americans was a grave threat to liberty, but believed that George Bush's warrantless eavesdropping on Americans in violation of the law was a profound defense of freedom. In sum, they dressed up in warrior clothing to fight against Bill Clinton's supposed tyranny, and then underwent a major costume change on January 20, 2001, thereafter dressing up in cheerleader costumes to glorify George Bush's far more extreme acquisitions of federal power.
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POPSThe Left Turns on Obama as the Right Breaks Out the Popcorn Third were the inflated lectures on historic foreign policy to be made by the clumsy political novice who trashed his own country and his predecessor in the most ungracious manner overseas to a censured Saudi-run press organ . Fourth was the campaign rhetoric of Bush shredding the Constitution—FISA, Guantanamo, Patriot Act, Iraq, renditions, etc.— followed by “all that for now stays the same”. Fifth, Gibbs as press secretary is a Scott McClellan nightmare that won’t go away . Blaming Fox News for Obama’s calamities is McClellan to the core and doesn’t work. Six, Biden is being Biden. Already, he’s ridiculed the chief justice, trashed the former VP, bragged on himself ad nauseam in Bidenesque weird ways, and it’s only been two weeks. At home, Obama is becoming laughable and laying the groundwork for the greatest conservative populist reaction since the Reagan Revolution.
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POPSThe Impending Obama Meltdown Also FTA: "there was the campaign rhetoric of Bush shredding the Constitution—FISA, Guantánamo, the Patriot Act, Iraq, renditions, etc.—followed by "all that for now stays the same"
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POPSWarrantless Wiretapping Legal!!!!!! But the Constitution bans only "unreasonable" search and seizure, not all searches and seizures, and the Fourth Amendment allows for exceptions such as those under a President's Article II war powers. The courts have been explicit on this point. In 1980, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held in Truong that "the Executive need not always obtain a warrant for foreign intelligence surveillance." The FISA appeals court said in its 2002 opinion In re Sealed Case that the President has "inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence information" and took "for granted" that "FISA could not encroach on the President's constitutional power."
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POPSBarrack Obama: Reep What You Sow I just ran in to this article. This feels a lot like just desserts given Obama's backslide on FISA. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11349.html
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POPSYou're Scaring Me, Obama: Let the Bush Years Die
And then there's Robert Gates, widely rumored to be staying on as your Defense Secretary. Questions about Gates' role in Iran-Contra, not to mention his skewing of intelligence about Russia, still linger. But especially disturbing is his recent push for beefing up the US nuclear arsenal: "As long as other nations have or seek nuclear weapons - and can potentially threaten us, our allies and friends - then we must have a deterrent capacity that makes it clear that challenging the United States in the nuclear arena, or with weapons of mass destruction, could result in an overwhelming, catastrophic response. While we're on the topic of warmongers in your midst. Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff? Yet another hawk, hell-bent on Iran and enamored with nuclear weapons. And now we've got Clinton as Secretary of State. Why is it that none of the 23 senators and 133 House Reps who voted against the war in Iraq are even on a short-list for these critical posts?
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POPSObama's New World Order; "Change" is Required Listen carefully to the words of Obama's symbolic Berlin speech. We know the "war on terrorism" will continue from his debates with McCain, his view of Israel is similar, that the Surveillance State in America will continue to expand (his FISA domestic spying expansion vote), that he will NOT repeal the PATRIOT ACT, Homeland Security, REAL ID, or other anti-constitutional Executive Orders or legislation passed by the Bush-neocon administration. He will make use of the same apparatus for the same "global transformation". "Common security" (for their order ) is still being pled in his speech based upon 9/11. The "new world order" agenda of Social Change (under plea of "common humanity", despite any other distinctions) will be dictated and you will be required to adopt it, like it or not. Listen again. The burdens of global citizenship.....Americans and Europeans will be required to do more; partnership and cooperation is not a choice".
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POPSThe Noose Tightens Noose Tightens Category: Depopulation, FISA, Globalization, Issues, NAFTA, News, North American Union, Patriot Act, Police State, Real id, Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, Voting Rights & Fraud, War on Civil Liberties | “Since 9/11, our Constitutional rights have been systematically dismantled: 1. USA Patriot Act - A 342 page document presented to Congress one day before voting on it that allows the government access to your bank and email accounts, as well as your medical and phone records with no court order. They can also search your home anytime without a warrant. 2. USA Patriot Act II - This one allows secret government arrests, the legal authority to seize your American citizenship, and the extraction of your DNA if you are deemed a potential terrorist. 3. Military Commissions Act of 2006 - Ends habeas corpus, the right to an attorney, and the right to court review of one’s detention and arrest. Without this most basic right, all other ri
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POPSSeven Paths To Sensible Privacy "I am not only retired from all public employments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk and tread the paths of private life with heartfelt satisfaction." —George Washington, letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, 1784 That is one view of privacy. Here is another: "We must all watch one another." —Rev. Robert Browne, guiding principles, 1582
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POPSThe Sins John Edward Did Not Commit You know what? I get sick and tired of the moral majority being the judge and jury of a personal situation which is between a husband and wife, especially since so many of them just love to pork it up with hot babes themselves or better yet, love getting same sex encounters in public restrooms.
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POPSYou May Be A Racist If You...........
If you're appalled that Obama voted against treating infants born after an abortion attempt the same medically as other infants born alive you... If you were proud of your country even before Obama's candidacy you If you oppose racial preferences in employment, school admissions and contracting you... If you think "we are the change we've been waiting for" is a line from a Monty Python skit you... If your grandmother isn't a "typical white person" you... If you're not sure invading Pakistan is a particularly good idea—what with their nuclear weapons and all— you... The tendency of Obama supporters to see racist impulses behind every criticism of their candidate has evolved into absurdity. Now even the first black president feels compelled to declare he's not a racist. By this measure, nearly every American is at risk of being branded a racist at some point in the campaign. To assess whether you're at risk just consult the list below ( apologies to Jeff Foxworthy