Memo justified warrantless surveillance

Memo justified warrantless surveillance

news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON - For at least 16 months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, the Bush administration believed that the Constitution's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures on U.S. soil didn't apply to its efforts to protect against terrorism.
That view was expressed in a secret Justice Department legal memo dated Oct. 23, 2001. The administration on Wednesday stressed that it now disavows that view.

(visit the link for the full news article)

So they didn't believe that the constitutions protection didn't apply, now all of a sudden they disavow that belief?
Am I reading this right?
Are they flip-flopping on the issue here?
If they currently do not believe that statement, what are they going to do about it then? Are they going to continue illegal wiretaps or are they going to put an end to the disgrace of the Constitution and blatant disregard for our rights?

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

The end run done around the legislative branch in order to acquire legal counsel, in written form no less, "clarifying" authority to use certain powers and conduct certain activities, is one of the most overlooked yet important and interesting elements of recent American history in my opinion. As the recent Frontline documentary "Bush's War" put it, "What congress would not give, the Justice Department would."

reply to post by palehorse23


It seems we're not the only ones worried about wiretapping:

ACLU: Military skirting law to spy

The military is using the FBI to skirt legal restrictions on domestic surveillance to obtain private records of Americans' Internet service providers, financial institutions and telephone companies, the ACLU said Tuesday.

"Newly unredacted documents released today reveal that the Department of Defense is using the FBI to circumvent legal limits on its own NSL power," said the ACLU, whose lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court.

This is great news, both from palehorse's article and the one I just mentioned.

They both say pretty much the same thing: The government is spying on American civilians and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it aside from filing lawsuits?

Are you kidding me?

We as Americans have been playing second fiddle to the most corrupt regime in American history (I'm not going to say world because Hitler probably beats Bushie, but not by much mind you...Cheney on the other hand...).

These criminals should be impeached, sent to a war tribunal, and well you know what happens typically after that (jail or worse).

[edit on 4/3/2008 by biggie smalls]

Originally posted by biggie smalls
They both say pretty much the same thing: The government is spying on American civilians and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it aside from filing lawsuits?

If Bash has his way we won't even have the lawsuits to resort to. The Telecoms will be protected, no doubt the FBI and DoD will be protected in some other backdoor legislation, and "we the people" will be left swinging in the breeze once again. God Bless America.