Comments on: Feds Tracking Journalists’ Phone Conversations?

By: floyd

floyd — Wed, 17 May 2006 01:26:24 +0000

well; the journalists should be glad that somebody wants to hear the crap they are saying![lol]

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 16 May 2006 11:37:47 +0000

As for the phone records scandal. Isn't it interesting how the NSA kindly requests phone companies voluntarily participate in providing phone records for a completely legal program critical in fighting the war on terror? A completely legal program for which they could demand cooperation? They're such nice guys, they wouldn't dream of using all of the legal powers at their disposal to fight the GWOT. I mean, if a phone company wants to disobey a legal request absolutely CRITICAL to defending our nation, well, it would be too mean to make them cooperate. Riiiight! But it's all legal. It really, really is. Nothing to see here. Move on.

By: ThatFuzzyBastard

ThatFuzzyBastard — Tue, 16 May 2006 03:58:30 +0000

There's certainly a reasonable case to be made for the government being able to use all investigative tools at its disposal to investigate a leak---a leak of classified information is a crime, and deserves to be investigated as such. What's disturbing is the bypassing of the procedure for a criminal investigation---no judge, no warrant, no oversight by anyone at all. The potential for abuse is obvious, and this administration's habit of declaring things classified or public seemingly at whim moves that from "potential for" to "probability of".

By: legion

legion — Tue, 16 May 2006 03:13:59 +0000

tgibbs -
Ah, but you forget, Bushie Boy has re-written that presidential order to say that anything embarrasing to him personally is a matter of national security and must be classified.
Then he classified the order.
Then he classified the law letting you be arrested for violating the order you didn't know about because it was classified.

What a wonderful world we live in.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Tue, 16 May 2006 01:42:04 +0000

I'm just curious how the right-wing blogsphere will feel when the Democrats are in charge of some branch of government again and they (inevitably) do something illegal/immoral and someone blabs to the press which prints the news - what then when the Democratic government uses the FBI, the CIA, the NSA to trace the phone calls and emails and Internet searches of the press to find the identity of the leaker who revealed information about the criminal conduct of a liberal White House or Congress or both? Will you once again agree that it's okay to seek out these "criminal" leakers of governmental secrets? How much do we really want the government -- no matter which party is in control -- having unregulated power to go into any aspect of anyone's life at any time to be able to use that information in any way they see fit? Orwell's 1984 was supposed to be a cautionary tale - not a "how to" manual.

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 16 May 2006 01:31:57 +0000

When they came for the journalists I didn't say anything because I wasn't a journalist. When they came for the bloggers

By: tgibbs

tgibbs — Mon, 15 May 2006 22:14:13 +0000

Not all leaks are "illegal." Many of the most politically damaging leaks do not involve classified information. Some leaks are merely embarrassing. Some are citizens exercising their legal and moral responsibility to report wrongdoing. All of which are good reasons why a warrant should be required for this kind of snooping.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 15 May 2006 20:57:03 +0000

why didn't this bit of information come up on Thursday? Looks like someone is dissapointed there was a lack of hysteria and is trying to up the ante

By: Copyboy11

Copyboy11 — Mon, 15 May 2006 20:38:22 +0000

Bye bye America. I'll remember you and the Constitution fondly...

By: PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts

PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts — Mon, 15 May 2006 19:08:19 +0000

“It’s time for you to get some new cell phones, quick.”...

Reports ABC’s Brian Ross and Richard Esposito at the ABC News blog The Blotter:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root ...

By: RA

RA — Mon, 15 May 2006 19:06:41 +0000

Fine! Lets have an investigation and force ABC to divulge their sources. Lets find out if their sources are credible. Lets find out if they broke any laws. If ABC people don't talk lets throw them in jail.

By: The American Mind

The American Mind — Mon, 15 May 2006 18:46:32 +0000

Authorities Using Phone Records to Find Leaks to Reporters...

Brian Ross and Richard Esposito of ABC News reports the federal government is tracking the phone numbers called by reporters:......

By: DC Loser

DC Loser — Mon, 15 May 2006 18:26:03 +0000

Are they tracking Bill Gertz's calls yet? I want to know who's been leaking all the classified documents to Gertz over the years.

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Mon, 15 May 2006 18:25:11 +0000

Only problem is that anything that annoys Rove/Bush is considered a national security issue.

By: John Gillnitz

John Gillnitz — Mon, 15 May 2006 18:25:04 +0000

"On the other hand, if their stories undermine classified ops, itâ??s perfectly reasonable for the DOJ to obtain warrants to examine their phone records..."

Ahh, warrants. Judicial oversight. I remember when we had that in the US.