The Feds are threatening to sue the state of Maine if they pursue an investigation of Verizon to see whether they violated the law in cooperating in the NSA domestic surveillance program.
Verizon customers in Maine have asked the state’s Public Utilities Commission to investigate whether the telecom giant violated privacy laws by cooperating with a domestic surveillance program. The PUC is expected to decide Monday whether to open such a probe.
In a July 28 letter to the PUC, the U.S. Department of Justice cites national security as a key reason for its opposition to a state investigation. The seven-page letter suggests a lawsuit is likely if Maine regulators decide to investigate.
“We sincerely hope that, in light of governing law and the national security concerns implicated by the requests for information, you will decline to open an investigation and close these proceedings, thereby avoiding litigation over the matter,” the letter reads.
Here’s piece of pretzel logic for you.
“Any document request,” Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler wrote in the letter, “. . . would place Verizon in a position of having to confirm or deny the existence of information that cannot be confirmed or denied without harming national security.”
This is just more of the same. We can spy on you because we say so. We also might choose not to spy on you for our own reasons, but we really can’t say one way or the other. Just trust Big Brother. We will continue to wage war in order to keep the peace.
At the talk I went to last week and wrote about, one of the authors said that FOIA requests were suspended under the guise of national security. Anyone know if that’s still the case?
How long until it is under the guise of national security that people will be legally able to shoot, on sight, anyone resembling a terrorist. We’ve already had Western Union delay all transactions to/from people with the first name Mohammad and the expansion of the “protect your castle” bullshit in Florida. Add in a dash of you can’t know this need-to-know bullshit for the good of the country and you got people scared.
And let me point to this piece of satire [for now, we’ll see in a few months during midterms] on how we the speechless are handed a steaming plate of shit in 2008.
As Upton Sinclair once wrote: “When facism arrives in America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.”
Once upon a time (when I was a young boy) some principled republicans stood up against an over-reaching and secretive presidency and did the honorable thing – convinced him to resign due to probable cause of criminal activity that they would be forced to vote guilty on as per their oath of office.
Now that oath is mearly a bunch of words to be parrotted during a ceremony with no meaning or honor behind them. If Alen Specter was half the man he sees himself as, he would grant Sen. Leahy full subpeona power…and we’d finally see what was national security and what was anti-American bullshit political spying.
Being a Mainer, I can tell you that the surest way to piss off this independent bunch is by bullying them or telling us we can’t do something. Alas, the decision to pursue this won’t be made by the people of the most independent state in the country.
Scalia has rejected the Texas GOP’s request to have Tom Delay’s case heard before the Supreme Court. CNN reporting this at 5:30pm.
SURPRISE!!
I have a question:
We got Verizon cell phones when we were moving here. Long story short they don’t work in or near the house we finally bought (siz months after our contract with the cellphone)
Can I dump their NSA humping asses still?
Because the contract I signed was a ONE PARTY contract. No where does it say that I agreed and will pay for a two party cell phone. Which is basically what it is now that the NSA can listen in like a perve.
I believe that only landlines were tapped. I recall the initial wiretapping news saying that Verizon Wireless phones weren’t tapped.
Thanks Albert!
There goes my way of getting out of a 2 year contract LOL.
War is Peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.