Warrantless wiretapping warranted, Cheney says

[sabra]

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060207/NEWS02/602070342/1009

Warrantless wiretapping warranted, Cheney says

PRICEVILLE -- Vice President Dick Cheney defended the administration's handling of the fight against terrorism, including a warrantless eavesdropping program drawing fire from critics in Congress, during a fundraising stop Monday in north Alabama.

Speaking at a campaign luncheon for Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, Cheney said the wiretapping of Americans and people overseas without a special court's warrant has been described inaccurately as domestic spying.

"It is not domestic surveillance. We are talking about international communication," he said.

...

Americans still are the "prime targets" of "committed fanatics," but the lack of additional attacks on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001, shows the war against terror is working, he said.

"Obviously, no one can guarantee we will not be struck again. But our nation has been defended by more than luck," Cheney said.

[Roland99]

1. Because we all know that every target was a member of Al Qaeda.

That means there are THOUSANDS of Al Qaeda members in the US who are not being brought to trial.

What a way to win the war on terror!

[tecelote]

2. Mr. Torture speaks.

Americans still are the "prime targets" of "committed fanatics,"...

Isn't he talking about Bushco?

[meow2u3]

27. You took the words right out of my mouth

GMTA

[SpiralHawk]

3. whacky, wpulsive, and wegwetable

wankers

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. *lol* Now say that five times fast

[Mithras61]

5. If the communication originated inside the USA, or...

connected to a number in the USA, then it's covered by either the Fourth Amendment or by FISA. Arguments about who or why are irrelevant and are intended to side-step the real issue, which is that the NSA (at the behest of Shrubco*) violated our laws.

But to address the strawman that the Dick has thrown up, we haven't gotten any useable intel from these warrantless wiretaps. We can't use it because it's ILLEGAL. What little we have gotten that is covered by warrants and is useable duplicates intelligence from more reliable sources (according to the Director of the FBI!).


Edited to add this:

Besides which, warrantless wiretapping HAS been going on since BEFORE 9/11 and it didn't help THEN (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11558.htm), so why should we believe it will help now?

[stepnw1f]

6. More Orwellian Garbage

This man makes me sick! What an evil piece of shit he is!

[aintitfunny]

7. Wow.

Asinine Alliterative Assholes are not acceptable. :7

[maine_raptor]

19. If I may, a slight change to your quote.

Asinine Alliterative Assholes are anti acceptable.

Much more meaningful!:rofl:

[aintitfunny]

25. Well said - lol

;)

[SIU_Blue]

8. in other words....

we protect your liberties by taking them away...

fear fear fear lies lies 9/11 lies terrorists 9/11

god bless amurukah.

[calimary]

24. Well, since they "hate us for our freedoms," let's settle THAT one,

once and for all! No more freedoms - no more hatred, right?

[LynnTheDem]

9. “ Saddam has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons..."

Not being a MFing stupid moran, I don't listen to people who have been so often proved so absolutely wrong.

In other words, fuck off, dick.

[LynnTheDem]

10. The lack of attacks on US since 911 show my Magic Monkey is working.

Proof, you ask?

We haven't been attacked since 911.

Honestly now...are so many Americans TRULY so stupid???

[Evergreen Emerald]

11. the arrogance of this administration is stunning

That they have the nerve to outwardly, proudly, loudly, declare, decry, that they are above the law and that the Constitution means nothing to them is outrageous. But what is worse is that the very notion of their actions is being debated rather than publicly, universally condemned by all Americans.

We are in the middle of a coup. And rather than kicking their asses out of office we debate whether or not they can WIRETAP American citizens! Stunning.

[magellan]

12. "Our nation has been defended by more than luck"

Pixie dust?

Anyone who argues that domestic spying is warranted, when it began BEFORE 9/11 and yet didn't give BushCo an inkling of that hideous event, hasn't helped capture bin Laden in well over four years since, hasn't helped bag the person/s behind the anthrax attacks, and then goes on to say we're being "defended", is just being plain insulting.

[DeadManInc]

13. Go fuck yourself Mr. Cheney!

[Tracer]

14. Or, as Al Franken said ...

... the only people found to be members of a "terrist" group were Al and Mary Beth Kayda of Lubbock, TX.

[Little Star]

15. They can argue that wiretapping is warranted

but can not justify it being done outside the law. They should have hired more head count if the procedure of fisa was to cumbersome. They should have asked to extend the 72 hour deadline. Why aren't the senators offering them these easy solutions to the problems they claim?

[Mithras61]

18. The interesting thing about all of this...

is that there was a proposal to ease the requirements of FISA about 3 years ago, and Shrubco opposed it. Congress OFFERED to make FISA easier to deal with, and these pricks said it wasn't necessary. Then when they went to Congress to get authorization to invade Iraq, they asked that permission to conduct warrantless wiretaps be included in the resolution, and they were turned DOWN.


People, there is NO excuse for this. They KNEW it was illegal, but they decided to do it anyway and to try and bluff their way out of it when it came out (yes, I believe they KNEW it would come out sooner or later).

[Rose Siding]

16. Great headline

I hope that was intentional.

[sabra]

17. LOL - I was thinking the same thing :-)

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cascadiance]

21. The mods here are soon to be listening to you...

and your touting your fascist ideals...

[Maeve]

22. And a nice job of clean-up they do, too!

Mods-- :yourock:

[Mithras61]

23. Indeed...

Although I sometimes wish they'd leave the funnier nutjobs' posts up just for grins...

There was one about commie pinko fags or something over in the Corp. for Public Broadcasting thread that was pretty funny. You could almost see Bob Boudelang with his eyeballs popping out! :evilgrin:

[cascadiance]

30. Yep, pretty responsive they are!

I reported a thread or two of his and a few minutes later he was gone!

[alarcojon]

26. Cheney's an even bigger pathological liar than Rummy

Yeah, Oily Dick, we're just hanging on your every word around here.

[meow2u3]

29. That's because.....Cheney's the ringleader!

He's the one who underwrites the illegal executive orders to spy on and blackmail Democrats and the media. Bush just signs what Cheney orders him to, so the EO's are in Bush's name.

[underpants]

28. "committed fanatics"

Yep that pretty much sums it up for me.

[baldguy]

31. Cheney is not a judge.

Only a judge can say whether or not a search is legally warranted. That's why we call the permission to search a "warrant".

[bemildred]

32. Another illiterate headline.

"Unwarranted wiretaps warranted", says Cheney ...

[tabasco]

33. Just one little problem, Dick: