This is Wire Tap – the Full Video and Research Page
Blog Snippet Page
The text links below pop into short Macromedia Flash video snippets on a new page. The video is meant to further augment the synopsis put forward in the text. Use the dropdown menu to see more… These snippets are great to use as fodder for backing the case that Bush clearly lied. I chopped and made them in Flash so they are quick to load and can be viewed on 90 percent of all computers (Mac, PC, Linux). You can point to a specific video by copying the different urls in the address bar for each video and paste them in as targeted links for a particular snippet on your blog or website.
What a difference a year makes – or is an election? Back in 2004,George W. Bush was caught on camera explaining very carefully that the government always requires a court order when “chasing down terrorists.” Trying to sell the Patriot Act – which he wanted renewed but which was coming under increasing fire from all sides of the political spectrum – Bush was very clear that “a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way.”
By that, he meant that neither the Patriot Act nor its ostensible cause – the 9/11 terrorist attacks – changed the absolute legal requirement for the government to get a court order before ordering wiretaps against suspected terrorists.
(One interesting side note: Bush continually refers to ordering wiretaps against “terrorists” – not suspects. This is highly revealing of his mindset: anyone who is suspected of being a terrorist automatically IS a terrorist. This mindset has permeated the entire military and security apparatus: that’s why countless innocent people have been jailed and tortured around the world: because all suspects are regarded as guilty – no matter how shaky or specious or non-existent the basis of their capture.)
But this week, Bush has outed himself as a liar. He has admitted – even boasted – of his secret spy program that operated without any warrants or any recourse to judicial oversight whatsoever – not even the FISA program which could have given him the broadest possible scope to order wiretaps and surveillance of suspected terrorists. Last year, before the election, Bush was insisting that wiretaps could be only issued by a court order; now, after the election, he freely admits that this is not the case.
Now, it’s all tumbling out of the closet; the filth is so mountainous and rank that even the comfortable coddlers of power in the mainstream media are starting to notice. Bush’s secret spying on Americans is just the tip of a vast iceberg of sludge, but its emergence could be a tipping point, as its howling illegality is too glaring to be overlooked. This lawlessness may, in the end, be countenanced by the political/media establishment – at which time we can well and truly close up shop on the American Republic and line up to receive our junta uniforms. But for now, we must press the case as hard as we can.
This video gives smoking gun proof that all of Bush’s current “justifications” for his spy program are – like the reasons for the Iraq war – outright lies.
From Media Matters
Top 12 media myths and falsehoods on the Bush administration’s spying scandal
- Timeliness necessitated bypassing the FISA court
- Congress was adequately informed of — and approved — the administration’s actions
- Warrantless searches of Americans are legal under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
- Clinton, Carter also authorized warrantless searches of U.S. citizens
- Only Democrats are concerned about the Bush administration’s secret surveillance
- Debate is between those supporting civil liberties and those seeking to prevent terrorism
- Bin Laden phone leak demonstrates how leak of spy operation could damage national security
- Gorelick testimony proved Clinton asserted “the same authority” as Bush
- Aldrich Ames investigation is example of Clinton administration bypassing FISA regulations
- Clinton administration conducted domestic spying
- Moussaoui case proved that FISA probable-cause standard impedes terrorism probes
- A 2002 FISA review court opinion makes clear that Bush acted legally
“Congress Never Authorized Spying Effort, Daschle Says” (December 24, 2005)
“Spy Agency Mined Vast Data Trove, Officials Report” (December 23, 2005)
“Wiretaps Said to Sift All Overseas Contacts” (December 23, 2005)
“The Department of Justice Memo, Debunked” (December 23, 2005)
DOJ Memo to Congress Defending NSA Program (December 22, 2005)
“Nuclear Monitoring of Muslims Done Without Search Warrants” (December 22, 2005)
Bush Press Conference (December 19, 2005)
“On Hill, Anger and Calls for Hearings Greet News of Stateside Surveillance” (December 17, 2005)
“Bush: Eavesdropping Helps Save U.S. Lives” (December 17, 2005)
“President Acknowledges Approving Secretive Eavesdropping” (December 17, 2005)
President’s Radio Address (December 17, 2005)
“At the Times, a Scoop Deferred” (December 17, 2005)
Senator Rockefeller Letter to Vice President Cheney (July 17, 2003)
“Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts” (December 16, 2005)
Yoo Office of Legal Counsel Memo – “The President’s Constitutional Authority to Conduct Military Operations Against Terrorists and Nations Supporting Them” (September 25, 2001)
Authorization for Use of Military Force – Text (September 18, 2001)
Authorization for Use of Military Force – Background (September 18, 2001)
FISA Resources (Electronic Privacy Information Center)
FISA – Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (U.S. Code Title 50, Chapter 36)
“The War Powers Resolution: After Thirty Years” (March 11, 2004)
War Powers Resolution (1973)
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)
Zadvydas v. Davis (2001)
Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer (1952)
Article II, Section 2 of U.S. Constitution (Commander-in-Chief War Powers)Article I, Section 8 of U.S. Constitution (Congress Role to Declare War)
