They’ll Have to Pry My Cold Dead Fingers Off the Constitution
June 23rd, 2006 | by Omnipotent Poobah |As a kid I lived across the street from the neighborhood busybody. She was always on the lookout for fresh gossip and developed a wide ranging network of sources that would make the human intelligence efforts in Iraq look like kindergarten play. She must have been a distant cousin to Snoop Prezie Prez, who has decided there is yet another area of American life he needs to closely monitor to ward off those dastardly “terrists”.
A NYT story today exposed yet another large scale monitoring program designed to keep an eye on the worldwide banking system. The Prez must have been getting bored with simply spying on his own citizens and decided to take surveillance on a World Tour. Despite ongoing attempts to keep it quiet, the White House fessed up when they realized the NYT was taking things public. As usual “assurances” spewed forth like a geyser.
Stuart Levey, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, described the program’s legal status as, “on rock-solid legal ground” and said it is based on the IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act ). Levey said the act, “specifically gives us the authority to conduct this type of investigation if there is an emergency declared by the president.”
Not much comfort in that. The Brush Clearer-in-Chief thinks choking on a pretzel is an emergency, so apparently pretty much anything qualifies. He also covers his ass by blocking these types of cases from going to trial so we can get an actual check to his imbalance.
Those in the know about the program claim it’s run much more tightly than the infamous wire tapping operation and is very selective in choosing targets. While that may be, it’s one more disturbing development in the onward March of the Christian Soldiers to make the Fourth Amendment the 3.5 Amendment.
If I were a betting man, I’d lay big money on the righties coming out in droves to back the Chimpster. It’s as sure as a hurricane hitting New Orleans.
But when it comes to civil rights, here’s the part I don’t get about the perennial Bush backers. Their perfectly willing to take the scissors to the Fourth Amendment, yet scream like banshees when it comes to the Second Amendment. Here’s my new slogan:
They’ll have to pry my cold, dead fingers off the Constitution to get it away from me.
[tag]humor, politics, banking, spying, bring+it+on, omnipotent+poobah[/tag]
9 Responses to “They’ll Have to Pry My Cold Dead Fingers Off the Constitution”
By Jet Netwal on Jun 23, 2006 | Reply
Bush makes McCarthy look like an ametuer.
By tos on Jun 23, 2006 | Reply
What a brilliant idea. Go USA!
Here’s hoping Blanco and Nagin are prepared this year.
By Dusty on Jun 23, 2006 | Reply
I saw the banking data collection article in the middle of the night last night. I just put my head in my hands..there is no end to this administrations bullshit attack on the Constitution. And the public sits on its hands..
By Omnipotent Poobah on Jun 24, 2006 | Reply
Jet,
Tail Gunner Joe didn’t have 6 years to perfect his act.
Tos,
I hope they are too. Maybe they could get Brownie and Chertoff to give the a hand this time around.
Dusty,
Aw, it’s only money.
By prying1 on Jun 24, 2006 | Reply
I feel much safer now knowing that terrorists are now aware of another way they have been tracked and captured. - I sure hope the throat slashing barbarians will change tactics so they can continue murdering innocent peoples all around the world.
Thanks NYT and LAT. I’m sure you have extended the time frame that it will take to rid the earth of vermin that put their version of Allah above human life.
By Omnipotent Poobah on Jun 24, 2006 | Reply
Prying,
I’m glad you feel much safer, because I sure don’t.
I’m not afraid of terrorists, not because they aren’t scary, but because I’m not afraid a tornado is going to suck me up any minute. Being on the wrong end of a terrorist attack is a lot less likely than tornado suckage.
I agree terrorists are “throat slashing barbarians” and “vermin”. I also believe we should persue them and punish them to the fullest extent of the law.
The right is awfully fond of reminding us that we are a nation of laws. Our laws are based on a Constitution that protects citizens from invasions of privacy like wire tapping and bank snooping. And that’s why I refuse to let terrorists win by handing over my freedoms in exactly the way they’d like.
If the choice is between me living my life differently because of the terrorists or bowing before them, I’ll stick with the Constitution and remain unbowed.
I’m a firm believer in the War on Terror. I just don’t want to fight the war looking over my shoulder to see my “leaders” and fellow citizens firing at me and the Constitution. I’d much prefer they get a backbone and stand up to the terrorists instead of placing their heads on the block for a swift sword to the neck.
So I guess I’d like to thank the NYT and LAT too. That would be the First Amendment they were exercising there, in case you forgot which one it was
By Dusty on Jun 24, 2006 | Reply
I think Prying feels the “terrorists” all sit around and subcribe to the NYT or the LAT and just read them w/their morning latte’s..perhaps they do.but I highly doubt it.
The “war on terror” is a perpetuated myth. If we had a war on terror going..I think Osama would be a little more worried about getting picked up. He isn’t. As for our wiretapping exercises..I am quite sure that like most drug dealers, the terrorists use throwaway cell phones for which no records exist to tie them to anyone.
The only war we have is against our constitution. We do have an occupation in Iraq going..and going pretty horribly. No ground being gained there if you read the memo from the Embassy in Iraq. If keeping the US citizens in the dark is the only way we will capture the terrorists..then I guess we are screwed. I can not condone breaking the laws set down by the Constitution to further the Shrub’s bullshit excuse for spying on Americans without a warrant and due process. I feel the government needs to spend more time chasing down Bin Laden and less time spying on Americans.
By Craig R. Harmon on Jun 25, 2006 | Reply
Dusty,
Do you really think that these stories aren’t in every newspaper published in every language on earth or that every television news organization hasn’t run with every one of these stories, expecially the arabic ones, ad nauseum? Do you really think that there isn’t a terrorist on earth who hasn’t got these stories originating from the NYT and the LAT?
By Dusty on Jun 25, 2006 | Reply
I guess I fail to see why any of this will have an effect on the “war” on terrorism. Our current administration is hellbent on everything it does being a secret. This is supposed to be a country that is out in the open, that doesn’t do its business in private behind closed doors. We are supposed to know what our government does when it affects us. Data collection of this magnitude without due process is wrong. I don’t believe that our current administration is looking for terrorists when it has supercomputers logging every phone number dialed in the U.S. or when it systematically stores every bank transaction made.
Our government is just now being held accountable for things its been doing since 9-11. They had secrecy up until this point. Did they find Bin Laden, the supposed mastermind, and capture him using all this illegally gotten information?
The answer is no..they did not. Therefore, their actions being exposed to the harsh glare of public opinion now, years later, has absolutely no effect on their war on terror efforts. If being able to find Bin Laden hinged on all these actions being kept secret..they should of been able to capture his tall Islamic ass by now, they have been doing it for years.
What their actions show me..as a person just made aware of what they have been doing for years is this:
Their the modern version of the Keystone Cops. They can’t find their ass with both hands and giving them the keys to the candy store will only serve to provide them with information that can be used against our own citizens for other endeavors..certainly not for finding the terrorists. They are pretty lousy at finding the one man they have sworn to bring to justice. But they are very good at mining data about own citizens who have done nothing but allow them the latitude needed to get the friggin job done,with regard to terrorists.