Newest NSA Revelation Proves Whistleblowers are Essential

If you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about -- except when you do.

Washington Post: The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and executive order. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. e-mails and telephone calls.

The documents, provided earlier this summer to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, include a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance. In one of the documents, agency personnel are instructed to remove details and substitute more generic language in reports to the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

It turns out that we've made it so easy to spy on Americans that it happens accidentally, According to the report, "A notable example in 2008 was the interception of a 'large number' of calls placed from Washington when a programming error confused the U.S. area code 202 for 20, the international dialing code for Egypt, according to a 'quality assurance' review that was not distributed to the NSA’s oversight staff."

Poll: majority view Snowden as whistleblower; most think domestic spying goes too far

Bloomberg News: A majority of U.S. registered voters consider Edward Snowden a whistle-blower, not a traitor, and a plurality says government anti-terrorism efforts have gone too far in restricting civil liberties, a poll released today shows.

Fifty-five percent said Snowden was a whistle-blower in leaking details about top-secret U.S. programs that collect telephone and Internet data, in the survey from Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University. Thirty-four percent said he’s a traitor. Snowden, 30, worked for McLean, Virginia-based federal contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH)

The poll also showed that by 45 percent to 40 percent, respondents said the government goes too far in restricting civil liberties as part of the war on terrorism. That was a reversal from January 2010, when in a similar survey 63 percent said anti-terrorism activities didn’t go far enough to protect the U.S. from attacks, compared with 25 percent who disagreed.

“The massive swing in public opinion about civil liberties and governmental anti-terrorism efforts, and the public view that Edward Snowden is more whistle-blower than traitor, are the public reaction and apparent shock at the extent to which the government has gone in trying to prevent future terrorist incidents,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac’s polling institute.

"The view of Snowden as a whistle-blower rather than traitor predominated among almost every group of respondents broken down by party, gender, income, education and age," according the the report. “Black voters were the lone exception, with 43 percent calling Snowden a traitor compared with 42 percent saying he was a whistle-blower."

The “exception" of black voters is entirely theoretical here, since the 1% difference is well within the margin of error. On that point, it’s probably truer to say the poll is inconclusive.

The fact that a majority doesn’t see the danger in government snooping is depressing, but it’s nice to know the shift is moving in that direction. As I’ve pointed out before, you may trust Pres. Obama with the information gained through the massive data collection Snowden revealed, but he’s not the only one you should be worried about. He’s not going to be president forever, that data will be around until it’s destroyed, and a lot of people other than the president have access to it. It’s not just a system that lends itself to abuse, it’s a system that’s begging for it.

It’s good to know that more and more people are realizing that.

[photo by stevendepolo]

Griper Blade: Sex, Lies, and Pointless Wiretapping

Wall Street and the economy are in flames and the Republican party is smoldering. The party should burst into flames itself about some time in early November.

And one man, smelling strongly of gasoline and burnt matches, tries to blend into the wallpaper. President George W. Bush, widely considered a front-runner for the less than coveted title of "Worst President in History," pops his head up occasionally to make a brief statement, then disappears into the White House in hopes that everyone will forget he even exists. For Bush, the market failure is like a thunderstorm rolling through -- not anyone's fault and totally unavoidable. Both parties in Congress point fingers across the aisle, but no one points to Pennsylvania avenue, where a stupid, stupid man sits nearly forgotten. And he wants to keep it that way.

For the most part, he's been successful. The economy, the market, the election, the two wars he began without any plan to finish them, all keep President Zero off the front page. The lamest of lame ducks, Bush is merely a clockwatcher now, waiting to clear out his desk and start his foundation to promote his lousy ideas (no, he doesn't plan to go away).

But the ghosts of old lies and crimes poke at him, driving him out into sunlight. His neocon paranoia and his contempt for constitutional principles will continue to follow him around long after he leaves office and even into the grave. His shiny new neocon think tank for a New American Century will suffer from its association with its founder -- a man with such powerful organizational skills that he once lost a fair fight to a pretzel...

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Iraq Reacts to US Spying Allegation

clipped from www.usatoday.com The Iraqi government reacted sharply Friday to published allegations that the U.S. spied on Iraq's prime minister, warning that future ties with the United States could be in jeopardy if the report were true. The allegations appear by a new book, "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," by journalist Bob Woodward, who writes that the United States spied extensively on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his staff and other government officials. The report emerged as the two governments are in delicate negotiations over the future of American troops in Iraq. Those talks have already extended past their July 31 deadline and have drawn sharp criticism from Iraqis who want an end to the U.S. presence. Critics may well use the allegation to step up pressure on the government not to sign a deal or hold out for the most favorable terms.

Is there anyone the Bush administration isn't spying on?

This reminds me of the time they spied on diplomats at the UN. These people are seriously and dangerously paranoid. Then, as now, the spying caused more problems than it solved. This is pretty much the definition of a disorder.

Former US Atty: Ashcroft Forced Out

clipped from rawstory.com In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, who was at the epicenter of the recent U.S. attorneys scandal, claims that former Attorney General John Ashcroft was "pushed out" for his refusal to sign off on an administration wiretapping order. The one really intriguing question I've had was from a book buyer a few months ago who asked whether I thought John Ashcroft had been pushed out or not after he refused to sign off on the warrantless wiretaps. That's something that a journalist has never asked me. The honest answer is, yes, that had Ashcroft done the wrong thing, the unconstitutional thing, and signed off on it, he'd probably still be the AG. But Ashcroft served honorably. He did the right thing, and he paid the price. He was asked to move on.

For the record, Iglesias is pushing a new book, "In Justice." Still, this doesn't really seem all that wild an accussation, given the history of the Bush admin. and Iglesia's own story.

Griper Blade: Damn Harry Reid

It was a good and bad day yesterday for privacy advocates and anyone concerned with the Constitution. In fact, it was a rollercoaster ride. The Wired magazine blog -- Threat Level -- ran two headlines in the space of sixty minutes. Both dealt with a bill giving immunity to telcoms for illegally wiretapping citizens without warrants and both dealt with dem presidential hopeful Chris Dodd's attempt to filibuster the bill. First, we were told, "Dodd's Anti-Spying Immunity Filibuster Fizzles, But He Fights On," an hour later we got, "Dodd Filibuster Threat Wins; Spying Bill Postponed to Next Year."

"Fighting on," apparently, won the day.

The real story here isn't Chris Dodd -- although he deserves all the attention he's getting. The real story is which side Democratic leadership took in this fight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was for telcom immunity and Dodd's fillibuster threat won out despite Reid's best efforts to ram a stupid and corrupt and pro-crime piece of legislation down our throats. This is sadly typical. People who tend to vote Democratic are very poorly represented by the party's leadership.

Allow me a moment of your time to holler at Harry Reid...

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Griper Blade: Joe Lieberman and the Office of George W. Bush's Trousers

I'm just so damned sick of Sen. Joe Lieberman. Since being reincarnated as the sole member of the 'Connecticut for Lieberman' party, he's been nothing but a lying sack. Of course, I'm being charitable. There's always the possibility that he's just insane. Either way, I've got two messages for the voters of Connecticut -- 'We told you so' and 'Thanks for nothing.'

Joe's latest line of BS came on an appearance on ABC's This Week where he called for more domestic wiretapping in the US.

Think Progress:

...Lieberman said, "I hope these terrorist attacks in London wake us up here in America to stop the petty partisan fighting going on about...electronic surveillance," in apparent reference to the Senate Judiciary Committee's subpoenas for documents related to Bush's NSA warrantless wiretapping program.

Lieberman claimed, "We're at a partisan gridlock over the question of whether the American government can listen into conversations or follow email trails of non-American citizens."... Liebermen went further in his calls for greater domestic spying. "The Brits have got something smart going. ... They have have cameras all over London. ... I think it's just common sense to do that here much more widely."

Of course, there's just so much wrong with what Lieberman's selling here and he knows it. But Joe's got himself firmly embedded in George W. Bush's pants and everything looks different from that perspective...

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