Innocent until proven guilty in America Right?

Ok, I'll admit it. I don't know what habeus corpus is.

More about Mrs. Young:

Mrs. Young was sitting about six rows from first lady Laura Bush when she was asked to leave. She argued with police in the hallway outside the House chamber.

"They said I was protesting," she told the St. Petersburg Times. "I said, 'Read my shirt, it is not a protest.' They said, 'We consider that a protest.' I said, 'Then you are an idiot.'"

(Something tells me Cindy Sheehan didn't have time to ask questions.)

Right after 9-11, the patriot Act was introduced. Out of fear, Congress passed it into law. But hidden away from public scrutiny and Congressional Accountability, President Bush implemented ILLEGAL and warrantless wiretaps. THe FISA court begun in 1978 as a result of Nixon's spying and abuse of power was implemented. How ironic is it that another President, steeped in corruption, has crossed the bounds of legal and stepped into illegal wiretapping.

Here's info:

Support Oversight of the Secret FISA Court (5/10/2003)

Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (most commonly known as FISA), a secret intelligence court was created to authorize government wiretaps in foreign intelligence investigations. Since its initial enactment, FISA has been steadily expanded in ways that pose an increasing threat to individual rights.

Under FISA procedures, all hearings and decisions are conducted in secret. The Department of Justice has not disclosed even the most basic information about the court's activities despite repeated requests from Congress, the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups.

http://www.aclu.org/natsec/spying/14454res20030510.html

I agree with everything you said. You bring up a lot of good points. I think the government is careless about civil liberties. All the President cares is oil, and war on terror. I still don't understand why my friend's friend had to take off his shirt in front of the police because he was wearing a T-shirt that says "Bush is the real terrorist." Where is our freedom? In a trash can?

Well reasoned nolies32fouettes,

From people who were there it seems that Cindy actually just decided at the last minute to even attend, and did so wearing what she had had on all day. The worst thing she might have committed was a "What not to wear" moment.

Yes, this is greater than what it seemed at the time. As has been posted here, case law has established that a tee shirt does not a protest make. There was also a major difference in the way Ms Sheehan and Ms Young were treated. Ms Young was merely asked to leave, Ms Sheehan was handcuffed and held, at another downtown location, for over 4 hours, well after midnight local time.
Given the current administration willingness to "stage" any appearance by the President, it's not hard to understand , They live in a bubble.. far from us..

Innocent until proven guilty! You said it. And so did Bush when he spoke of Delay and Abramhoff. But the media and the Republicans go after Cindy as if SHE's the lobbyist or the Congressman on the take!

I'm tired of the smear job. Look at the troll droppings in that other thread.

The media perpetuates these smears and bashes progressives even when the onus should be on the Republicans.

We need fair media. Get rid of the corporate media with their lies. Get rid of these footsoldiers of lies called the republican spin machine and the Texas task force.

Mrs Sheehan was treated dispicably, yet just the other day I heard one "proud" Senator blabbing about how a filibuster, a LEGAL manuever in the Senate, WAS dispicable to Alito.

They smear Cindy, the arrest her, they hold her and mistreat her over the course of 4 hours, and they let a nice little Republican lady off the hook.

Discrimination is against the law.

So is spying.

But they're worried about a t'shirt. Amazing.

Just like so many of our other rights, 9/11 changed everything because it put people in a state of fear, and put blackness in their hearts. No one has any trust for his fellow man, everyone is out to get him. This is precisely the propoganda that must be combatted unless the American people wish to see their lives evaporate before their eyes. Rights will degenerate left and right unless we do something about it.

Rosso,

You're right. For a long time, there has been fear in our world and yet we've always overcome it: witches, McCartyism, the cold war, etc...and yet despite those fears we've always kept our Constitution and our personal freedoms.

So we need to look at how the media and the Republican party tries to instill more fear. Clearly, people go see Rambo in the theatre and they don't come out frightened and shaking like a leaf; instead, they recognize there is danger but it's not iminent.

Media knowingly twists the screw and takes that away from us. And even mastermind of darkness Karl Rove has proudly stated that the Republicans will promote more fear and run on Terror (again!) this year.

We progressives also have to show that the smear "limp lefty" is nothing but a no-good talking point.

And we have to stand up for decency, ethics, human dignity, jobs, etc...

Wow! Look what I just found!

A 9/11 Conspirator in King Bush's Court?
READ MORE: Iraq, New York Times, Afghanistan, CIA, Cindy Sheehan, George W. Bush
While Cindy Sheehan was being dragged from the House gallery moments before President Bush delivered his State of the Union address for wearing a t-shirt honoring her son and the other 2,244 US soldiers killed in Iraq, Turki al-Faisal was settling into his seat inside the gallery. Faisal, a Saudi, is a man who has met Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants on at least five occasions, describing the al Qaeda leader as "quite a pleasant man." He met multiple times with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Yet, unlike Sheehan, al-Faisal was a welcomed guest of President Bush on Tuesday night. He is also a man that the families of more than 600 victims of the 9/11 attacks believe was connected to their loved ones' deaths.

Al-Faisal is actually Prince Turki al-Faisal, a leading member of the Saudi royal family and the kingdom's current ambassador to the US. But the bulk of his career was spent at the helm of the feared Saudi intelligence services from 1977 to 2001. Last year, The New York Times pointed out that "he personally managed Riyadh's relations with Osama bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar of the Taliban. Anyone else who had dealings with even a fraction of the notorious characters the prince has worked with over the years would never make it past a U.S. immigration counter, let alone to the most exclusive offices in Washington." Al-Faisal was also named in the $1 trillion lawsuit filed by hundreds of 9/11 victims' families, who accused him of funding bin Laden's network. Curiously, his tenure as head of Saudi intelligence came to an abrupt and unexpected end 10 days before the 9/11 attacks.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-scahill/a-911-conspirator-in-kin_b_15003.html

The fact is that America was weakened when Bush came into office. People would not hate this country and attack it if the leadership didn't piss them off. Al-Quida did not attack this country because they despise freedom and capitalism, they attacked us because America supports unruly Israeli expansion, stealing of Middle-eastern oil, and Eastern imperialist expansion.

Now that people are afraid that they'll be attacked again, they fear everyone they're with, and would pass blame to anyone to either be infalliable, in case anyone would blame them, and because they have such an increased large-scale paranoia. The greatest example I can think of the is Gary Condit case, where the man was convicted on pure circumstantial evidence. America does not run on a "no one else could have done it," because lawyers are not the perfect industrial engineers. No one can account for every possible situation except the one in the case. There has to be conclusive proof, and people have to accept that just because it seems like someone COULD have done a crime, and that they may WANT them to have done it, there is still a giant chance they did not commit and crime.

the best medicine is to stand up and open the eyes of others.

Green for Danger?
Bill Berkowitz, Inter Press service

http://domino.ips.org/ips%5Ceng.nsf/vwWebMainView/6E4A22373B465ABAC125710900661C7D/?OpenDocument

OAKLAND, California, Feb 2 (IPS) - As the George W. Bush administration ratchets up its domestic spying capabilities, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is collecting "research" reports on direct-action environmental groups produced by right-wing think tanks.

The revelations are nothing new. In the 1960s and 1970s, the U.S. government spied on a host of civil rights organisations and prominent civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It also scrutinised and infiltrated a number of anti-Vietnam War groups. In the 1980s, Pres. Ronald Reagan's administration spied on groups opposed to its policies in Central America. And during the run-up to the Iraq invasion, government agencies were actively collecting information on opponents of the war.

Recently, the New York Times reported -- albeit more than a year after it had uncovered the facts -- that in the name of the war on terrorism, the Bush administration has been using the National Security Agency (NSA), the nation's most secretive spy agency, to eavesdrop, without a warrant, on the conversations of U.S. citizens and others in the country.

Amid a swarm of criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, Pres. Bush has been criss-crossing the country on another public relations offensive, maintaining that secret electronic eavesdropping is absolutely essential to keep the U.S. safe from terrorists.

"It's important for people to understand that this programme is so sensitive and so important that if information gets out to how we run it or how we operate it, it'll help the enemy," Bush said at a Jan. 26 press conference.

When the Los Angeles Times' James Gerstenzang suggested that the president's justification of his surveillance policy "seem to sound like something President Nixon once said, which was: 'When the president does it, then that means that it's not illegal,' " Bush responded: "Most presidents believe that during a time of war that we can use our authorities under the Constitution to make decisions necessary to protect us."

He then offered his understanding of the legislation that was passed by Congress after the 9/11 terrorist attacks: "Go ahead and conduct the war. We're not going to tell you how to do it."

"Thirty-five years ago," the San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko recently wrote, "President Richard Nixon claimed constitutional authority to wiretap Americans' phone calls to protect national security without asking a judge..."

The Supreme Court disagreed, unanimously ruling that "the Constitution granted the powers he was claiming to judges, not presidents".

Egelko also pointed out that "presidents have approved wiretaps without court orders since the 1940s, but the legality of the practice was thrown into doubt after the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that electronic eavesdropping was a search, and thus covered by the prohibition on unreasonable searches in the Constitution's Fourth Amendment".

The story of government agencies spying on U.S. citizens apparently has many layers. Recently, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) discovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that the FBI has been collecting information from partisan, ideologically-driven right-wing think tanks that have long had environmental activists in their crosshairs.

A segment of a recent broadcast of National Public Radio's show Living on Earth called "Big Brother" explored the FBI's programme that spies on environmental activists. Guest host Jeff Young introduced the piece by noting that the passage of the U.S. Patriot Act had "expand the government's power to monitor U.S. citizens in its fight against terrorism".

Young pointed out that he had noticed -- while examining nearly 2,000 pages of documents -- that the FBI had been depending "pretty heavily on research done by a couple of think tanks that are very conservative, pro-business, anti-regulation in their mindset and their mission" for information on Greenpeace, a longtime environmental group involved in peaceful protest activities.

Young's guest, Ann Beeson, the associate legal director of the ACLU, talked about how right-wing think tanks are providing grist for FBI investigations: "Unfortunately, it's another bit of information that might lead one to conclude that the FBI is not à just doing this to investigate crimes, but is doing it purposefully to suppress legitimate dissent and criticism of the administration's policies."

Beeson pointed out that another FBI document related to the anti-Star Wars activities of Greenpeace appears to indicate that the agency "is concerned that the protest itself could harm the public image of the missile defense system. Now, to me that sounds very much like the FBI trying to assist the administration in preventing criticism of its positions and programs from getting out there in the public. And that's a very dangerous job for the FBI to be engaged in."

"Amongst the nearly 2,000 pages on Greenpeace were documents from the Capital Research Centre and the Washington Legal Foundation," Deepa Isac, a staff attorney with Greenpeace, told me in a phone interview.

The FBI documents included two issues of CRC's Organisation Trends, which focused on the "radical tactics of ... 'direct action' groups" and a document from the Washington Legal Foundation, titled "Direct action protest groups not above the law," written by Glenn G. Lammi, the Chief Counsel of the Legal Studies Division for the Foundation.

The WLF is a non-profit, tax-exempt public foundation, which was founded in 1977 to "fight activist lawyers, regulators, and intrusive government agencies at the federal and state levels, in the courts and regulatory agencies across the country".

Isac recognised that it was hard to determine how these documents from right-wing think tanks were used, but she pointed out that that the FBI had "no documents from counter-balancing organisations".

"I don't know the full extent of the FBI's work, but Greenpeace has always acted non-violently while working to protect the environment," Isac noted. "It was surprising to discover that it would use counter-terrorism resources to target peaceful groups like Greenpeace."

Right-wing advocacy and "research" groups attacking environmentalists is nothing new. Apparently, however, since the FBI determined that eco-extremists were a major domestic terrorist threat, it has ratcheted up its spying operations.
+++++++++++++
Bill Berkowitz is a longtime observer of the conservative movement. His WorkingForChange column "Conservative Watch" documents the strategies, players, institutions, victories and defeats of the U.S. Right.
http://domino.ips.org/ips%5Ceng.nsf/vwWebMainView/6E4A22373B465ABAC125710900661C7D/?OpenDocument

Read this.

http://www.haloscan.com/comments/firedoglake/113903410173913321/#246247

From D.U.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=324985&mesg_id=324985

Not the laws currently on the books, mind you, but the laws that the Bush Regime have instituted of their own accord.

Cindy Sheehan continues to publicly grieve for the loss of her son, Casey. Under the Bush Regime, this is unpatriotic. That's why flag-draped coffins are not allowed to be photographed; it might make the public aware of the true cost of this war. It's a 'downer' of the worst kind. If Ms. Sheehan was really interested in 'supporting the troops', she would put a bumper-sticker on her car and leave it at that.

Cindy Sheehan asks pertinent questions, such as, "For what 'noble cause' did my son die?" Under the Bush Regime, true patriots don't ask questions, ANY questions. They just keep their heads down and their mouths closed, because that's how a country founded on the concept of such ethereal concepts as Freedom of Speech was always meant to operate. (Apparently, some people don't understand the 'sarcasm' that is rife in the Constitution, and honestly believe that 'Government for the People and By the People' was meant to be taken literally).

Cindy Sheehan is giving 'aid and comfort' to the enemy. She insists on holding this president and his administration accountable for the lies that got us into this war, and the lies that continue to be told about its purpose and its progress. A real American would simply accept the lies as truth, and wouldn't let on to the 'enemy' that any American holds life dear, and thinks there are alternatives to violence and aggression.

And just to add insult to injury, Cindy Sheehan, one of the People, shows up at a public event -- the State of the Union address (right there in the People's house!) -- wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the number of our own war dead, in an obvious attempt to bring attention to our Esteemed Leader, a humble and self-effacing man, who doesn't want to BRAG about how many US soldiers have sacrificed their lives to his 'noble cause'.

When will this madness end, Ms. Sheehan? Will you not be happy until the ENTIRE country wakes up to the sound of your incessant criticism of this wonderful president and his regime, who have brought such peace, economic prosperity, and world-wide accolades from around the globe?

Some people just don't GET IT.

(By NanceGreggs)

Gee...and doesn't this sound a lot like Cindy:

Galloway 'receives Egypt apology'

Respect MP George Galloway says he has received an apology from the Egyptian president after being detained at Cairo airport for over 12 hours.

Mr Galloway went to the Middle East on Friday after being invited to join an event against the war in Iraq.

He said he was detained without food and water and only set free on Saturday after the event ended.

On Sunday Mr Galloway said President Hosni Mubarak had "apologised on behalf of the Egyptian people".
Moonbootica, Die Walküre | Email | Homepage | 02.05.06 - 11:51 am | #
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/atrios/113915729393541672/?a=50998#4052090