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Warrantless Wiretapping

Patriot Act: Congress Shouldn't Rush to Judgment (Again)

Sen. Ron Wyden | Posted 10.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, Patriot Act, Ron Wyden, Bush Administration Torture, Obama National Security, National Security, Dick Cheney, Politics News
Sen. Ron Wyden

Striking a balance between protecting Americans' security and protecting American rights and freedoms is not always easy, but members of Congress have an obligation to try -- as well as a new opportunity.

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Cheney: A Tortured Soul

Lance Simmens | Posted 10.26.2009 | Politics

Read More: Libby, Cheney, Valerie Plame, Warrantless Wiretapping, Bush Administration, National Security, Spiro Agnew, Wiretap, Guantanamo, Constitution, Vice President Cheney, Politics News
Lance Simmens

Mr. Vice-President, you and your President had eight full years to chart a direction for this nation. That direction was soundly rejected by the voters in the most recent national election.

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Jeff Muskus

GOP Targets Dodd For Trying To Repeal Immunity For Telecoms In Wiretapping Program

HuffingtonPost.com | Jeff Muskus | Posted 10.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: John Cornyn, Civil Liberties, FISA Amendments, Warrantless Wiretapping, Telecom Immunity, Chris Dodd, Domestic Spying, Chris Dodd Wiretapping, Politics News

The Senate GOP fundraising arm is soliciting donations by vowing to defeat Democrats who want to repeal the retroactive immunity granted last year to ...

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Obama To Set Higher Bar For Keeping State Secrets

washingtonpost.com | Carrie Johnson | Posted 11.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, State Secrets Privilege, National Security, State Secrets, Obama State Secrets, Department of Justice, Holder Bush State Secrets, Obama National Security, Justice Department, Eric Holder, Rendition, Bush State Secrets, Politics News

The Obama administration will announce a new policy Wednesday making it much more difficult for the government to claim that it is protecting state se...

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An Example to All the World

Andrew Kimbrell | Posted 09.27.2009 | World

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, Assassination, Bush Administration Torture, Democracy, Death Threats, Warrantless Surveillance, Pakistan, Torture, World News
Andrew Kimbrell

I entered my cab and began a conversation with my driver, a middle aged man of my vintage who informed me he was of Pakistani descent.

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Setting the Record Straight on Warrantless Wiretapping Program

Sen. Dianne Feinstein | Posted 08.31.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, NSA Wiretapping, Michael Hayden, Nsa, Warrantless Surveillance, Domestic Spying, Politics News
Sen. Dianne Feinstein

Strong intelligence tools are necessary to keep us secure. But those tools must be transparent to Congress, subject to legal review from the Executive Branch, and fully consistent with the law.

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Torture, Wiretaps, Lies to Congress: Old Spy Cronies a Drag on Obama's "Look to the Future"

Frank Naif | Posted 08.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Inspector General, Warrantless Wiretapping, John Brennan, Eric Holder, Dick Cheney, Dni, Special Prosecutor, Stephen Kappes, Cia, Glenn Greenwald, Congressional Oversight, Assassination, Leon Panetta, Accountability, Marcy Wheeler, Leon Panetta CIA, Politics News
Frank Naif

Over the past week, a triple-whammy of developing national security stories reminded Americans and the Obama administration that the past is a stubborn thing.

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Obama's "Drip, Drip, Drip..." Intelligence Problem

Chris Weigant | Posted 08.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: George Bush, White House, President Obama, Central Intelligence Agency, Pat Leahy, Cia, Leon Panetta, Truth Commission, Cheney, Surveillance, Obama, Eric Holder, President, Bush, Dick Cheney, Intelligence, Drip Drip Drip, Assassination, Detainee Abuse, Briefed, Panetta, Brief, Attorney General, Warrantless Wiretapping, Congress, Justice Department, Intelligence Committee, Barack Obama, Investigation, Detainee, Saturday Night Massacre, Briefing, Prisoner, Vice-President, Chris Weigant, Wiretapping, I Was Only Following Orders, Leahy, Waterboarding, Hit Squad, Water Torture, Nixon, Torture, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Obama faces a steady drip, drip, drip of stories leaking and becoming public. Wiretapping stories, torture stories, and secret CIA covert stories were all in the news in the past week alone.

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Jason Linkins

Bush Sent Gonzales To The Hospital (And The Rest Of Your Scritti Politti)

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 08.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, Metaphors, George W. Bush, Music, China, Video, Huma Abedin, Howard Wolfson, John Ashcroft, Anthony Weiner, Marcy Wheeler, Alberto Gonzales, Politics News

Man, you turn Marcy Wheeler loose on an IG report, and her eye just seeks heat. Today, Wheeler's getting praise for catching this detail in the uncla...

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U.S. Begins Search for Something Good to Say About Dick Cheney

John Marshall | Posted 08.12.2009 | Comedy

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, Cia, Counterterrorism, Dick Cheney, Comedy News
John Marshall

"It's not easy finding something pleasant to say about this douche bag, I mean, V.P.," said one official, "although if it IS there, we'll find it. That is, if he didn't conceal THAT from Congress, too."

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Presidential Surveillance Program: Spying Went Beyond Warrantless Wiretapping

AP | PAMELA HESS | Posted 08.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: Presidential Surveillance Program Wiretapping, Warrantless Wiretapping, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Bush Spying, Presidential Surveillance Program, Fisa, Beyond Wiretapping, Politics News

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration built an unprecedented surveillance operation to pull in mountains of information far beyond the warrantles...

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Our Government Opposes Internet Filtering -- Maybe Yes, Maybe No

Art Brodsky | Posted 07.25.2009 | Media

Read More: Internet, Warrantless Wiretapping, Iran, Acta, Net Neutrality, Domestic Spying, Media News
Art Brodsky

If the government opposes Internet filtering in Iran and opposes it in China, then it would be nice if our legislators and our government opposed it here, too.

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NSA Ill-Suited for Domestic Cybersecurity Role

Frank Naif | Posted 07.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Nsa, Warrantless Wiretapping, Private Contractors, National Security, Domestic Surveillance, Defense Contractors, Cybersecurity, National Security Agency, Obama National Security, NSA Wiretapping, James Bamford, Domestic Spying, Cyber Czar, Politics News
Frank Naif

Does the federal government need to be involved in coordinating private sector cybersecurity? Perhaps, but only in a coordinating role.

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A Defense Against Government Secrecy and Overclassification

Baruch Weiss | Posted 06.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Aipac, Warrantless Wiretapping, Classified Documents, Bush Wiretapping Surveillance, Government Secrecy, Steve Rosen, Keith Weissman, Overclassification, Espionage, Politics News
Baruch Weiss

Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman were indicted under the 1917 Espionage Act, an almost-never used relic of World War I. The government also sought to have the defendants -- US citizens -- tried in secret.

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Election Trouble for Jane Harman

Norman Solomon | Posted 06.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, Civil Liberties, Progressive Democrats of America, Marcy Winograd, Democrats, War, Jane Harman, Politics News
Norman Solomon

Congresswoman Harman provides a particularly spectacular example of an officeholder who has boosted militarism while helping to undermine civil liberties and human rights.

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Jason Linkins

Representative Harman 'Urged' Times To Not Publish Wiretapping Expose

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.22.2009 | Media

Read More: Jane Harman AIPAC, Bill Keller, Wiretapping, Warrantless Wiretapping, New York Times, Jane Harman, Media News

the Times says that Rep. Harman made an effort, on the eve of the 2004 election, to keep the paper from publishing their expose.

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NSA Wiretapping: Justice Department Reining It In

AP | PAMELA HESS | Posted 05.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Nsa, Justice Department, Warrantless Wiretapping, Nsa Warrantless Wiretapping, Doj Wiretapping, Illegal Spying, Government Spying, Government Illegal Spying, Nsa Illegal Spying, Doj Illegal Spying, NSA Wiretapping, Justice Department Nsa, Justice Nsa, Department of Justice Statement on Wiretapping, Nsa - Wiretapping, Wiretapping, Wiretap, Politics News

WASHINGTON — The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday that the panel would hold a hearing to get to the bottom of reports tha...

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Sharing Tea Bags with Right Wing Extremists

Bob Cesca | Posted 05.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, Tax Day Tea Party, Wingnuts, Warrantless Surveillance, Terrorism, Homeland Security, Glenn Beck, Right Wing, Fisa, Michelle Malkin, Politics News
Bob Cesca

Whether intentional or not, the talkers and bloggers who appear to be driving the post-Bush crazy train have opened up the conservative tent to some pretty unsavory and dangerous characters.

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Jason Linkins

Scritti Politti: April 3, 2009

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, Eavesdropping, Obama g20, Spain War Crimes, Pundits, Obama Inauguration, John Yoo, John Yoo Memo, John Yoo Torture, Predictions, Chip Reid, Shepard Fairey, Barack Obama, Drudge Report, Unitary Executive, Politics News

It's Friday, and I'm feeling generous and mercurial, so here's a fun and shameless plug! Los Angelenos in the house? This Saturday, enjoy the dynami...

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Meet the new Boss. Same as the old Boss?

Mark Jeffrey | Posted 04.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, Warrantless Surveillance, Barack Obama, Obama Transition, Politics News
Mark Jeffrey

We were told the change had come. So we held up the iconic blue-and-red signs that read, "Hope." But nowadays, it's looking more like, "Meet the new Boss. Same as the old Boss."

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FISA Court Quietly Moves To Avoid Accusations Of Bias

Washington Post | Posted 04.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Warrantless Wiretapping, FISA Bill, FISA Legislation, Obama FISA, Wiretapping, Obama Fisa Compromise, Fisa, Surveillance Courts, Barack Obama FISA, Politics News

First, the workers encased the room in reinforced concrete. Then came the thick wood-and-metal doors that seal into the walls. Behind those walls they...

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Unearthed: The News Without the Chaff

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Brendan DeMelle | Posted 03.02.2009 | Media

Read More: King Coal, Warrantless Wiretapping, John Conyers, Clean Air, Russell Tice, Cook Inlet Belugas, Environmental Rollbacks, Sarah Palin, Nuclear Energy, Polar Bears, Fox News, US Life Expectancy, Karl Rove Subpoena, Dirty Fuels, Media News
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Brendan DeMelle

John Conyers subpoenas Karl Rove, Obama blocks some of Bush's last-minute environmental rollbacks, Sarah Palin plans to sue federal government over endangered whales, and more.

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The "Move On" Defense Of George W. Bush

Cenk Uygur | Posted 02.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: Newsweek, Bush Administration, Crimes, Aol, Bagram Air Base, Dilawar, Iraq War, George W. Bush, Warrantless Wiretapping, Aol Hot Seat, Manipulation of Intelligence, John Barry, Illegal Spying, Political Vengeance, Move on Defense, Torture, Politics News
Cenk Uygur

To say Bush's defense is that his opponents want "political vengeance" is a non sequitur. Couldn't every trial in the country be characterized as some sort of "vengeance" based on this logic?

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Obama Sides With Bush in Spy Case

Wired | Posted 02.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obama Warrantless Spying, Warrantless Wiretapping, First 100 Days, Cia, Obama Bush, Obama First 100 Days, 100 Days, Obama Bush Doj, President Obama, Warrantless Spying, Spying, Obama, Barack Obama, Politics News

The Obama administration fell in line with the Bush administration Thursday when it urged a federal judge to set aside a ruling in a closely watched s...

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Sunday Roundup

Arianna Huffington | Posted 02.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: George Bush, Obama Cabinet, Warrantless Wiretapping, Tim Geithner, Erich Segal, New York Times, Geithner Taxes, Hurricane Katrina, Hillary Clinton, Bush Legacy, Justin Timberlake, Clinton Confirmation Hearing, David Vitter, Dick Cheney, Politics News
Arianna Huffington

This week's confirmation hearing of Hillary Clinton was a promising sign that Team Obama will mean a return to prepared, knowledgeable, fact-based leadership. Maybe Justin Timberlake can do a remix for the Inauguration: Bringing CompetenceBack! The one glitch belonged to Timothy Geithner. Four words, Tim: H & R Block. Elsewhere, David Vitter's lone anti-Hillary vote appeared to be a desperate ploy to gain notoriety for something other than his history with hookers. And George Bush and Dick Cheney smirked and snarled their way through their final days, rewriting the history of Katrina (W), and expressing long-held aggravation that the New York Times won a Pulitzer for exposing the administration's warrantless wiretapping program (Dick). They clearly are devotees of the Erich Segal school of leadership: running the country into the ground means never having to say you're sorry.

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