It was hard deciding whether a news item that popped up yesterday should be the Stupid Thing of the Week or the Seriously F’d Up Thing of the Week. Either way, it’s seriously stupid and F’d up. The Washington Post reported yesterday that the Justice Department wants to go the Bush administration one better on snooping into Americans’ lives. It seems the DOJ has been pressuring Congress to expand the department’s power to access records of Americans’ private internet activity.
That’s disturbing enough, but the way the DOJ wants to go about it is just as bad: by using National Security Letters. NSLs are one of the most insidious government surveillance tactics to be expanded by the Stalinization of America Act, oops,we mean the Patriot Act. NSLs allow the FBI to demand information and data from e-mail providers and phone companies about ordinary citizens’ private communications. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the letters include gag orders that bar recipients from ever revealing the letters’ existence to friends, coworkers, family members or, needless to say, the general public. Even more incredible is that the Justice Dept. is making this new power grab just two years after a DOJ investigation revealed that the FBI has routinely abused the power given them by NSLs.
The DOJ’s request to allow the FBI access to your detailed Web browsing history, search history, location information, or even Facebook friend requests, is, well, we were going to say “dumbfounding,” but frankly, it’s scary as hell. As if Bush & Cheney weren’t bad enough — now Obama’s DOJ is trying to pull this crap? Let the White House, as well as your representatives and senators, know how you feel about it.
This article appears in Jul 27 – Aug 2, 2010.
Wow Grooms, are you actually beginning to realize that Maobama is actually Bush III? Only took you what, three years?
New government powers are almost always eventually expanded, and are almost never retracted.
A good example is the RICO statutes, passed because the government just had to have new powers to fight organized crime, but have since been used against groups like Operation Rescue.
The FBI recently asked for the power to obtain without warrants, Citizens’ “electronic communication transactional records” including email addresses they used to send communications. If the FBI’s request for warrant-less Internet surveillance is granted, Citizens to avoid federal conspiracy charges will have to report to police (every email) they receive that might allude to anything illegal.
FBI’s request for no warrant Internet surveillance can’t be viewed separately: if pending bills in Congress pass, the FBI can then use its warrant-less Internet surveillance to arrest and indefinitely detain Americans on mere suspicion not evidence, based on their Internet Activity. Private information the FBI derives from warrant-less searches of emails and Internet Activity—could potentially be used by U.S. Government to blackmail, target anyone though government harassment, prosecution or civil asset forfeiture because he or she disagreed with government.
Will lawful Internet Activity, be used by Government to detain/arrest Americans without probable cause? On March 4, 2010, Sen. McCain introduced The “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010.” McCain’s bill would eliminate several Constitutional protections allowing Government to arbitrarily pick up Americans on mere suspicion—with no probable cause. Under McCain’s bill, your political opinions and statements made on web postings and in emails against U.S. Government and others could be used by authorities to deem you a “hostile” “Enemy Belligerent” to cause your arrest and indefinite detention. U.S. activists and individuals under McCain’s bill would be extremely vulnerable to detention or prosecution, if (charged with suspicion) of “intentionally providing support to hostilities or an Act of Terrorism”, for example American activists can’t control what other activists might do illegally—they network by email domestically and overseas. The Government under McCain’s bill would need only allege an individual kept in military detention, is an Unprivileged Enemy Belligerent suspected of; having engaged in hostilities against the United States; its coalition partners; or Civilians or (has) purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States; its coalition partners or U.S. civilians. Detained Americans can be denied legal counsel.
Alarmingly the Obama Government recently employed a vendor to search Internet social networking sites to collect information about Americans that could potentially be used by this government to injure Americans, for example, if you apply for a federal job, your name might be crossed referenced by the Obama Government with comments you made at Websites against Obama; or if you make application at a bank for a loan the Government has control since the financial crisis, could your Internet comment(s) prevent you getting that loan? Obama’s monitoring of the Internet sites can too easily be used by Government to intimidate, coerce and extort Corporations and Citizens from speaking out.
See McCain’s 12-page Senate bill S.3081 The “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010 at: assets.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/politics/ARM10090.pdf
Obama gave a speech in May 2010 that asked Congress to pass legislation to give the President power, to detain any person in the U.S. that government deems a “combatant” or likely to engage in a violent act in the future. President Obama wants the power to incarcerate U.S. Citizens not on evidence, but for what they might do. Obama wants the power to override the U.S. Constitution, to detain indefinitely any American based on conjecture her or she might do something violent in the future. If Obama’s proposal to detain Americans without probable cause is approved, and FBI is granted warrant-less searches of the Internet, it is foreseeable Government could use anyone’s Internet activity including emails to claim an individual or lawful organization might do something violent in the future to order their indefinite detainment. See: Obama Sound-Video asking for power to detain people without probable cause at:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/630.html
What the recent Washington Post Report, (Secret America) did not mention: in the U.S., government-private contractors and their operatives work so close with U.S. law enforcement, exchanging information to arrest Americans and or share in the forfeiture of their assets, they appear to have merged with police. Similarly in 1933 Hitler merged his private police the Gestapo with German national security. Before the Gestapo was consolidated with the German Government, the Gestapo arrested Citizens and confiscated private property with no legal authority. However U.S. Government has already granted that power to private U.S. contractors. In 1939 all German Police agencies including the Gestapo were put under the control of the “Reich Main Security Office” the equivalent of U.S. Homeland Security.
Can History repeat itself? Should there be a radical change of U.S. Government, history shows law enforcement is generally not replaced; that police will work for—e.g. a fascist U.S. Government; communist or other despot government—against the interests of Citizens. Note: The German police first worked for a democracy before Hitler; then worked for the Nazi Fascists; then joined the Soviet Union’s East German Police (Stasi) believed to be the world most oppressive police force until the German Wall came down. Consequently it should be expected U.S. Government security contractors and private mercenary corporations would work for a despot U.S. Government.
If FBI warrant-less Internet Spying is approved, it is problematic the FBI will share its spying with law enforcement, government contractors and private individuals that have security clearances to facilitate the arrest and forfeiture of Americans’ property—-to keep part of the bounty. Police too easily can take an innocent person’s hastily written email, Internet fax, phone call or web activity out of context to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause an arrest or confiscation of someone’s property. There are over 200 U.S. laws and violations mentioned in the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 and the Patriot Act that can subject property to civil asset forfeiture. Under federal civil asset forfeiture laws, a person or business need not be charged with a crime for government to forfeit their property.
Rep. Henry Hyde’s bill HR 1658 passed, the “Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000” and effectively eliminated the “statue of limitations” for Government Civil Asset Forfeiture. The statute now runs five years from when police allege they “learned” that an asset became subject to forfeiture. With such a weak statute of limitations and the low standard of civil proof needed for government to forfeit property “A preponderance of Evidence”, it is problematic law enforcement and private government contractors will want access to FBI, NSA and other government Internet surveillance, including wiretaps perhaps illegal to arrest Americans and to seize their homes, assets and businesses under Title 18USC and other laws.
Of obvious concern, what happens to fair justice in America if police and government contractors become dependent on “Asset Forfeiture” to pay their salaries and operating costs?