Denied wiretaps, So Bypassed them updated

Daily Kos is showing slightly different numbers than the upi story that I sighted earlier in the day.

Daily Kos: FISA Court Modified Inadequate Warrant Requests

Technorati Tags: FISACourt, Courts, Wiretaps, SCOTUS

Photo of the Day

This is an example of the works that are available on the PhotoMuse site. They are in the process of making the Eastman Kodak's photo collection available for free on line. At the moment only a few photographers are listed.


Lewis W. Hine
Lewis+Hine
(American, 1874 - 1940)

Welding on a Sky Scraper , 1931
gelatin silver print , 24.1 x 19.1 cm. x
"Gift of the Photo League, New York ex-collection Lewis Wickes Hine " (197701530005)
GEH Collection

Denied wiretaps, So Bypassed them

UPI has a short blurb that Bush decided to skip the FISA Court because they had questioned and modified 179 warrants out of 5,645 requests by the Administration. Apparently that is more than all of the previous Administrations combined. They had done that only twice out of the 13,102 applications approved over the first 22 years of the court's operation. Further more this court, which I feel was doing its job correctly, had rejected six warrants flat out.

So because the court questioned 3% of these warrants that is to much interference for this Administration. Sure this is quite a jump in oversight from it's historic level of .015% disapproval. But you would think that now that we are in a state of war more questionable request would reach the court. So to this administration a 97% approval rate for these warrants makes this court an activist and out of control court that he need to bypass for the good of the country.

To me that just doesn't pass the smell test.

Related
Bush was denied wiretaps, bypassed them


Technorati Tags: SCOTUS, Courts, FISA, Wiretaps, President

NSA

Photo Credit: mrrealtime

Defense Tech has been having some very interesting article over the last week dealing with Domestic Spying issue that exploded on the political landscape last week.

Defense Tech: NSA "Tapping Into... Telecom's Main Arteries"
Defense Tech: New Tech Behind NSA Snoop Case?
Wiretaps' Fishy Rationale

Technorati Tags: NSA, NSATechnology, Wiretapping, DomesticSpying

A Question of War Powers

This Administration is one of the most arrogant and incompetent Administrations in are history. Daschle's article in WaPo: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S. just shows how incompetent they are. Did they not reallies that once they made a claim that they had plenary power that they would ignite a firestorm?

Technorati Tags: War Powers, Plenary Powers, War, Congress

Warrantless Searches

Photo Credit: filax

Daily Kos is linking to stories out of Think Progress and US News & World Report dealing with warrantless Searches of Muslim Sites, and the threatening of whistle blowers with firing. It seems that the government has been using new technology to surveille US citizens. And as is pointed out in Kos' article:

In 2001, as the article points out, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of thermal imaging to detect heat lamps in a residence was a "search" under the 4th amendment and a warrant was needed. The case was U.S. v. Kyllo, and the opinion was written by Justice Scalia.

Technorati Tags: Warrantless, Warrantless Searches,

And the Punches keep on coming

Just when you think that things can't get any weirder Think Progress has this story on his website: Conservative Judge Argues Bush Adminstration Can’t Be Trusted With Power I just am at a loss as to how everything that this administration has touched is coming apart at the seams all at once. All having to deal with how it welds its power in a dictatorial manner.

Take the time and read this story which revolves around Padilla's detention.

Counter to The Volokh Conspiracy

Daily Kos has an interesting blog on how the NeoCons think that in times of war the President has Monarchy like powers. An interesting counter point to Volokh: Legal Analysis of the NSA Domestic Surveillance Program.

Related
Daily Kos: A Little Bit of Monarchy

Technology at the Root Wiretap Scandal

The new technology at the root of the NSA wiretap scandal

Did the Justice Dept. Commit Purgery?

The Washington Post is reporting that one of the eleven Judges, a James Robertson, that sits on the FISA Court has resigned from the court in protest to the Presidents action. But what makes this all the more interesting is the statement further in the article that he had said to colleagues in recent conversations that

he was concerned that information gained from warrantless NSA surveillance could have then been used to obtain FISA warrants. FISA court Presiding Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who had been briefed on the spying program by the administration, raised the same concern in 2004 and insisted that the Justice Department certify in writing that it was not occurring.

The more that I hear the more that I think that Bush has created a constitutional crisis.

Related:
Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest
White House Elaborates on Authority for Eavesdropping

Bushes Domistic Spying

This site has one of the most complete analysis of the legal issues involved with Bush's decision to do the warrant less spying on American citizens.

The Volokh Conspiracy - Legal Analysis of the NSA Domestic Surveillance Program: