funsec mailing list archives
Re: [privacy] U.S. Government to Ask Courts to Toss Phone Suits
From: "Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 19:15:25 GMT
Hear, hear. "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." - Benjanim Franklin - ferg -- "Andrew Blair" <Andrew.Blair () genmills com> wrote: Sorry for the length. It started short and just kept going... The scariest thing about all of this is that if we set a precedent allowing potentially illegal and unconstitutional activities to occur without challenge, we trap ourselves in a situation where all future administrations will be able to isolate and hide activities that could be far and above more abusive than what we are seeing now behind the guise of "National Security". Allowing our government to get away with operating unchallenged behind a veil of "state secrets" gives executive leaders nearly unlimited power. Whether or not you think the current administration is or will ever abuse that power, that power will be abused by someone someday. That much unchecked power is a terrible temptation. It is deeply disturbing that Americans are not only allowing this to happen, but in many cases are willing participants. Complacency is a dangerous thing, and I fear the period of relative safety and stability American's have enjoyed for 60 years has led to a society that takes our constitution and the rights it affords for granted. Any erosion of those rights is a greater attack on the very foundations of our country than any an Islamic extremist could carry out. It appears that the U.S. government really believes what it is doing is "right", and that is a frightening thought. They believe that with enough power and enough control we can defeat America's enemies and protect our people. Failures just mean they need more power and more control to be successful. Whether technically legal or not, the activities of our government violates the very spirit of what it means to be American. I believe the government is motivated to go to these extremes by fear. The fear of attack by terrorists, the fear of losing re-election, and the fear of not being in control. We cannot let fear be the source of our laws and policies. Countless tragedies in history were the result of fear. The Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, McCarthy and the Red Scare, Stalin and his murderous policies - the list is long and we must not let ourselves add another. The legality of the current programs does not bother me as much as the inability to challenge them. The whole idea of American government is one of restrained authority and checks and balances. For all the propaganda of being patriotic and protecting America from terrorists being put out of Washington, the very idea of the current gross expansion of Executive power is fundamentally and profoundly un-patriotic and un-American. America is under ferocious and prolonged attack by ideologically radical foes, but our greatest enemies are not from far away lands hiding in the shadows and folds of trusting American liberties. No, they tread on the airwaves, in the papers, and most of all in our nation's Capital. Andy B "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death" Support those who support your freedoms. Give to the EFF. -----Original Message----- From: Fergie [mailto:fergdawg () netzero net] Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 9:15 AM To: privacy () whitestar linuxbox org Subject: [privacy] U.S. Government to Ask Courts to Toss Phone Suits "...and the clocks were striking thirteen..." Via The Washington Post (Bloomberg). [snip] The government will seek dismissal of 20 lawsuits accusing the biggest telecommunications companies of providing customer call data to the National Security Agency, claiming that "military and state secrets" might be divulged were the lawsuits to proceed. The Justice Department said it will not ask for the dismissal until all the lawsuits are consolidated before a single judge, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, where a complaint is pending against AT&T Inc. All of the cases contain "allegations about certain telecommunications carriers' purported assistance in classified government activities," the Justice Department said in its papers. "The United States intends to assert the military and state secrets privilege in those actions and to seek their dismissal." [snip] More here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/08/AR200606 0800048.html - ferg -- "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson Engineering Architecture for the Internet fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/ _______________________________________________ privacy mailing list privacy () whitestar linuxbox org http://www.whitestar.linuxbox.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy _______________________________________________ privacy mailing list privacy () whitestar linuxbox org http://www.whitestar.linuxbox.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy
Current thread:
- [privacy] U.S. Government to Ask Courts to Toss Phone Suits Fergie (Jun 08)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: [privacy] U.S. Government to Ask Courts to Toss Phone Suits Andrew Blair (Jun 08)
- Re: [privacy] U.S. Government to Ask Courts to Toss Phone Suits Fergie (Jun 08)