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More FBI Spying on American Citizens

by TChris

Here's how the Bush administration is protecting you from terrorism:

Counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly, groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and poverty relief, newly disclosed agency records show.

You may not have known that poverty relief activists were responsible for 9/11, but they must have been, or the Bush administration, which focuses on nothing but protecting us from the likes of Osama, wouldn't be wasting scarce resources snooping into their activities.

The FBI claims that John Ashcroft "loosened restrictions" that confined its investigative power, making it possible to investigate "protest groups suspected of having links to violent or disruptive activities." In other words, the administration deems local vandalism at a fur farm or logging site to be worthy of an anti-terrorist response. Is diverting the FBI's anti-terrorism efforts from local conduits of foreign terrorism to local disruption of businesses making the country safer from foreign attack?

The FBI denies that ideology plays a role in its decision to snoop, but it's difficult to believe that political philosophy isn't the primary motivation that drives the FBI's choice of targets:

One F.B.I. document indicates that agents in Indianapolis planned to conduct surveillance as part of a "Vegan Community Project." Another document talks of the Catholic Workers group's "semi-communistic ideology." A third indicates the bureau's interest in determining the location of a protest over llama fur planned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

No anti-abortion protestors. No anti-gay activists. No white supermacist groups. No collections of nutcases who want to blow up federal courthouses. Instead, the FBI wants to chase after Catholics, Vegans, and PETA members: terrorists all.

Is this why Bush wants to bypass the judiciary to authorize wiretaps on his own authority? Is he afraid that even the most conservative judge would balk at wiretapping a group of Catholic workers, simply because an FBI agent brands them as "semi-communistic"?

Where have our civil rights gone?

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    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:20:39 AM EST
    People are starting to actually say the "I" word (Impeachment) and not just jokingly. Talk about Xmas miracles!

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#2)
    by Dadler on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:26:51 AM EST
    Impeachment is too nice. But I'll settle for it. What is there to say? Corruption and cowardice and retardation masquerading as leadership. This is so infuriating it's beyond words. Who would've guesed peace groups like the one surveilled in Farhenheit 9/11 would STILL be getting hassled. It takes a cranium of unique hollowness to think this is protecting anyone. This is intimidation of groups they don't like. And the groups they don't like speak volumes. As you said, no anti-abortion terrorists, no anti-gay thugs, no militia nutjobs...just groups that do it the right and American way. In this case, for this administration, no noose is bad noose.

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#3)
    by theologicus on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:33:25 AM EST
    The administration is making every effort to protect us from groups like Greenpeace and the Catholic Worker. Who can fail to feel more secure?

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:52:02 AM EST
    In your dreams Billy. Heck, Feingold's out fragging his foot over this. How do you expect any traction then.

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#5)
    by kdog on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:57:19 AM EST
    Outrageous. Not what my grandfather's fought for, in fact it is what they fought against.

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#6)
    by Edger on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 09:17:15 AM EST
    In a weird, "alice in wonderland logic" way, this may be good news. Bush and his administration seem to be doing everything within their power to as quickly as they can dig themselves a pit so deep that it might soon be impossible for them to extricate themselves from it. Go George, go...

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 10:17:27 AM EST
    Surveillance good, Vegans bad. Let's see, the Pentagon is spying on Quakers, the FBI is spying on Catholics, and Osama bin Laden has been free for over 4 years. Good to see King George has his priorities in order.

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#8)
    by Johnny on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 10:43:31 AM EST
    What I really need is at least one wrong winger to say, with a straight face, that covert government surveillance of of citizens is freedom. I would also like to hear a wrong-winger describe to me why the constitution does not apply to the office of president. I would also like to hear, in Bush's own words (such as they are), why he thought that going outside the law is the way to uphold the law. Wait... They will just accuse me of loving the terrorists and heap upon me, massive amounts of "guilt" involving my personal part in developing WMD in Iraq.

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#9)
    by desertswine on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 10:48:20 AM EST
    Spying on vegans? WTF?

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#10)
    by Edger on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 10:48:56 AM EST
    Johnny, Come on man... get with the program will you... jeeze, Johnny... you know in your heart of hearts that all that thinking you keep doing improves the morale of the "terrists" don't you? ;-)

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#11)
    by Sailor on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 04:08:26 PM EST
    student groups opposed to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel. The story, first reported by Lisa Myers and NBC News last week, noted that Pentagon investigators had records pertaining to April protests at the State University of New York at Albany and William Patterson College in New Jersey. A February protest at NYU was also listed, along with the law school's LGBT advocacy group OUTlaw, which was classified as "possibly violent" by the Pentagon. A UC-Santa Cruz "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" protest, which included a gay kiss-in, was labeled as a "credible threat" of terrorism.
    OK, so the WH, the DIA, the NSA and the FBI all illegally spy on Americans. And pay reporters to pump up the volume. Wingnuts, are you really safer if gays can't kiss!?

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#12)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 10:47:17 PM EST
    All together now...we are shocked, SHOCKED that this gang would exploit 9/11 to spy on their political enemies. Somewhere in hell, Dick Nixon is smiling.

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#13)
    by Johnny on Wed Dec 21, 2005 at 12:25:14 PM EST
    LOL Sailor... It only looks like thinking because the opposition is, shall we say, not measuring up...

    Re: More FBI Spying on American Citizens (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Dec 21, 2005 at 07:53:03 PM EST
    1) Impeach; 2) Remove; 3) Prosecute; 4) Execute. Repeat as needed. Gotta love those high voltage verbs!