[Peace-discuss] petition against wiretaps

Ricky Baldwin baldwinricky at yahoo.com
Thu Jan 19 15:50:39 CST 2006 

Hey folks-

You may have gotten the same email I did, blah blah
blah about Al Gore's speech.  But there is a link to a
petition, which I think is worth signing, even if we
don't care for MoveOn.

Petitions of course aren't that powerful, compared to
letters, phone calls, etc.  But it can't really hurt.

When I signed I added a note that impeachment and
removal should be the next steps.

fyi

Ricky

> The more pressure we can add, the less Congress and
the White House will be able to sweep this problem
under the rug. Can you take a moment to sign our
petition calling for a special prosecutor now?

>
http://political.moveon.org/ruleoflaw?id=6670-3914911-VehiyYRtZrM4ZEXyTWTF9w&t=3

> No one disagrees that our government must be able to
track terrorists.  But as Sandra Day O'Connor recently
wrote, "It is during our most challenging and
uncertain moments . . . that we must preserve our
commitment at home to the principles for which we
fight abroad."6

>
> Thanks for all you do,

> -Eli, Nita, Wes, Jennifer and the MoveOn.org
Political Action Team
>   Wednesday, January 18th, 2006

> P.S. If you want some more information on this
issue, here's a briefing on what the Bush
administration has said-and what the truth is. As you
can see, they're pretty far apart on this issue.
>
>     1.      
>
>     They have claimed this unauthorized wiretap on
phone calls and email was legal because of
Congressional resolution.8
>     WRONG: Congress has passed no resolution
allowing the president to ignore the 4th Amendment and
spy on Americans.9 Moreover, Congress explicitly
denied this right to the administration.10
>
>     2.      
>
>     Then they claimed that they did it because they
needed to act swiftly.11
>     WRONG: Current law allows immediate wiretaping,
with up to three days after the tap to get the
official court order. 12
>
>     3.      
>
>     They claimed that Congress was fully briefed and
knowledgeable on the program.13
>     WRONG: Only a handful of Congressional leaders
were briefed on the program. Those who attended
briefings were ordered to keep quiet about it.14 When
Congressional leaders submitted concerns to Vice
President Cheney's office about the program, there was
no response. 15 Now, it also seems that the
administration wasn't forthcoming on major parts of
the program.16
>
>     4.      
>
>     They argued that the administrative overhead is
too high.17
>     WRONG: Too much 'paperwork' is not an excuse to
break the laws of the land. If it did prove to be too
difficult, the president could have sought to fix the
law; after all, that's what the Patriot Act is all
about.
>
>     5.      
>
>     They said that the spying program was narrow and
limited.18
>     WRONG: A New York Times article about the
program reports that the data from the eavesdropping
program was 'swamping investigators.' "The stream soon
became a flood, requiring hundreds of agents to check
out thousands of tips a month. But virtually all of
them, current and former officials say, led to dead
ends or innocent Americans."19
>
>     6.      
>
>     The president said the person who leaked the spy
program to the New York Times caused great harm to our
security and now the Justice Department is involved in
an investigation to discover their identity.20
>     WRONG: Anyone who brings illegal and
unconstitutional activity to light is just doing their
job-upholding the laws of the land. Our nation has a
rich history of protecting whistleblowers-they are
heroes who keep our democracy strong.
>
>     7.      
>
>     The administration is now attacking the
Clinton-Gore White House by saying they also engaged
in warrantless searches of Aldrich Ames' home.
>     WRONG: The Clinton White House never violated
the law in its searches. Warrants were not required
for physical searches at that time, and Clinton
supported and signed legislation changing the law to
require warrants.21
>
> Sources:

> 1. "Bush: Secret wiretaps won't stop," CNN.com,
December 20, 2005
> http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/19/bush/

> 2. "Official: Bush Authorized Spying Multiple
Times," Associated Press, December 16, 2005
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10488458/

> 3. "Report Rebuts Bush on Spying," Washington Post,
January 7, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1373

> 4. "Specter: Bush has no `Blank Check' to Spy,"
Chicago Tribune, January 16, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1384

> 5. The Situation Room, CNN, January 16, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1374

> 6. "Real Oversight on the War on Terrorism," San
Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1375

> 7. "Bush Vigorously Defends Domestic Spying," CBS
News, December 19, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1376

> 8. "Bush Administration's Defense," New York
Newsday, December 20, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1385

> 9. "ACLU Letter to Attorney General Gonzales
Requesting the Appointment of Outside Special
Counsel," ACLU, December 21, 2005
>
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/23184leg20051221.html

>
> 10. "Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in
US," Washington Post, December 23, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1377

> 11. "Bush Let U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts,"
New York Times, December 16, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1378

> 12. "Bush Officials Claim Spy Court Cumbersome,"
Baltimore Sun, December 20, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1386

> 13. "Cheney Roars Back on Spying, Torture, Iraq,"
ABC News, December 18, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1379&id=

> 14. "Surveillance Court Judge Quits in Protest,"
Seattle Times, December 21, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1380

> 15. "Letter shows senator raised concerns in '03,"
Chicago Tribune, December 20, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1387

> 16. "Bush Vigorously Defends Domestic Spying," CBS
News, December 19, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1376

> 17. "Bush officials claim spy court cumbersome,"
Baltimore Sun, December 20, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1386

> 18. Press Briefing by Scott McClellan, January 3,
2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1381

> 19. "Spy Agency Data After Sept. 11 Led F.B.I. to
Dead Ends," New York Times, January 17, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1382

> 20. "Bush Says Leaker Caused Great Harm," MSNBC,
January 1, 2006
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10673060/

> 21. "White House Lobs Accusations Back at Gore,"
Associated Press, January 17, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1383

> PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION,
http://political.moveon.org/?id=6670-3914911-VehiyYRtZrM4ZEXyTWTF9w&t=5
> Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee. 

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