FBI forms anti-porn squad

[swimmernsecretsea]

FBI forms anti-porn squad
'I guess this means we've won the war on terror,' one agent says
Barton Gellman, Washington Post

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Washington -- The FBI is joining the Bush administration's War on Porn. And it's looking for a few good agents.

Last month, the bureau's Washington Field Office began recruiting for a new anti-obscenity squad. Attached to the job posting was a memo from FBI headquarters to all 56 field offices, describing the initiative as "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and, by extension, of "the Director," Robert Mueller.

The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults.

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

Among friends and trusted colleagues, an experienced national security analyst said, "it's a running joke for us."

A few of the printable samples:

"Things I Don't Want On My Resume, Volume Four."

"I already gave at home."

"Honestly, most of the guys would have to recuse themselves."

complete story at
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/21/MNGRSER4141.DTL

[tocqueville]

1. will they crack down on Abu Grahib photos ?

[whistle]

2. There you go, the FBI is right on the ball....

:yoiks: :hide:

[merwin]

6. On the balls, you mean

[tridim]

3. Stating the obvious..

Porn is legal. WTF?

[ixion]

7. exactly my thinking

I think it's a bogus load of BS to appeal to chimpy's base of idiots.

[WePurrsevere]

9. Exactly, and like or hate it the fact is that it falls under the 1st Amend

truly a huge waste of financial resources that would be much better spent on other things like Hurricane assistance, not cutting benefits of those who truly need it, buying BushCo and brain and heart, making sure the troops that are over in Iraq have proper protection, making alt energy easy and inexpensively available to ALL, etc, etc.

Once again coming from that slime ball Gonzales it's also the absolute HYPOCRISY that really ticks me off. :puke:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

33. not for long. the Christiban is on the march.

long live the FBI! save our souls! forget about anti-terrorism.

Arrest those evil medical marijuana users. Toss away the key for those people who gain pleasure from naked bodies. shut down our country's pleasures and freedoms.

[mongo]

52. Technicaly, porn is illegal on the fed level and in most states

I can be arrested for selling ANY movie in my inventory. The way the laws are written, Playboy magazine is illegal.

But we don't have prior restraint of free speech in America - so in order to convict, a jury has to decide the work is "obscene" and against community standards (whatever the hell that means).

The reason shops like mine exist is that it is expensive to prosecute me, getting a conviction is a crapshoot, and it makes the local authorities look like prudes with too much time on their hands.

But try opening a store in Cincinatti and see what happens.

[Vermontearthmom]

4. This makes no sense

Why would resources be removed from the critical role of anti-terrorism to look for porn? This is truly a foolish redirection of resources.

[WePurrsevere]

10. My thoughts as well and Welcome to DU. :-) n/t

[Vermontearthmom]

12. Thank you WePurrsevere for the welcome

I've been a lurker for a long time and have decided to get the courage to post. I am not a very vocal person, but with what is going on, I need to start to get involved. I hope that I can be a positive contributor to DU. Again, that you for welcoming me.

[WePurrsevere]

24. I too lurked for a long time and...

once I started posting it's a bit like a dam broke. It's wonderful that you're getting involved, I know how difficult it can be to make that first step but I'm sure you'll be a true asset now that you've taken it. B-)

I'll look forward to more of your posts, your user name will be easy for me to remember as a northern NYer who dearly loves Vermont and is a bit of an Earth Mom herself. :)

[smirkymonkey]

27. The Christian Fundy Whackjobs are getting restless.....

and they can't find Osama so they are sure as hell going to go out and find some PORN!!

[Meldread]

5. Oh, crap...

I might as well turn myself in then. :P

How many folks would be arrested considering that the most searched word on the internet is sex? (...and I don't think most folks are lookin' for tips.)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. Owning Obscene Material Is Legal .... Selling It Isn't...

Stanley V Georgia





http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/367/

[kysrsoze]

35. Yes, but you have to prove that something is "obscene"

That's where the first amendment comes in.

[mongo]

53. Exdactly, and you can't have prior restraint of free speech

which is why stores like mine exist.

But, I could still be arrested for selling ANY movie in my inventory.

[Endangered Specie]

8. Oh please, the FBI men just want an excuse to look at porn

and not get fired.

[atomic-fly]

23. ding ding ding

[brentspeak]

36. The agents are the ones who are annoyed at all this

As the article states. Gonzalez is the one who's wasting the agency's resources.

[stickdog]

11. Perhaps they should start by busting our bare-assed emperor?

Or is it part of the job requirement to compliment Dubya's fine taste in imaginary clothing?

[UrbScotty]

13. Because we need to return to the days of J. Edgar Hoover.

:sarcasm:

[iconoclastic cat]

14. Doesn't this actually sound like the plot of a porno? n/t

[Enraged_Ape]

16. "Did someone here order a pizza?"

Bow chicka-bow chicka bow-bow...

[swimmernsecretsea]

18. LOL!!!

Very good! Let me shake your hand...uh, nevermind.

[YOY]

15. So the purpose of this is to take down Larry Flint's ilk by

looking to see if he's payed his back taxes???

Tax payers dollars down the drain??? Fundierific!!!

[Kurovski]

40. Mr. Larry Flynt has been so outspoken about Bush (George)

that it wouldn't surprise me if the whole purpose of this stupid shit was to ultimately go after him. Flynt writes against GWB monthly, has a book, and hires writers to investigate and write about "them".

Bush is a notoriously vengeful f*ckbag.

I think enough of us have Flynts back,(no pun intended) and he's rich and smart enough to hurl any crap right back in their faces.

He's intimately familiar with the fascists now running the show in DC.

[Lexingtonian]

17. Where do I get an application for that job?

I'm excellent at the undercover work I figure it's gonna take. :D

Actually, on a slightly serious note, there was a PBS show on this a year or two ago. The people pressuring the Bush people to start up obscenity charge prosecutions again are, you guessed it, the Christian Right. The Reagan DoJ spent an awful lot of its time on trying to squelch the porn industry. Janet Reno decided to call off the dogs and put them on more relevant stuff.

It's kind of ironic that when Reno did that, it went along with porn fading out as something radical in the culture. These days it just bores normal people as a public issue. Or rather, only bores now assign it any meaning at all beyond beyond being a form of entertainment for a pretty defined demographic that isn't meaningful to anyone else.

I guess the politics of it is that the Christian Right has pretty enormous leverage with the Bush people right now given that all other major Republican blocs are getting pretty wobbly. I would guess that this FBI team's head will get instructions to do a lot of useless PR stuff but avoid actually getting to prosecutions and court defeats for as long as possible.

[mongo]

55. The more relevant stuff that Reno concentrated on

was CHILD PORN. She did call off the dogs on adult obscenity - and put these resources directly on the fight against child porn.

Now Gonzoles has even said that adult obscenity is a higher priority than child porn.

[Rowdyboy]

19. This bullshit deserves to be on the front page....

And now it will be.

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

In another story, they also cut funding for methamphetamines to increase it on marijuana....

What kind of bass-ackwards world do we live in?

[Kurovski]

41. Bushworld, Bizzaroworld, it's really something, ain't it?--n/t

[Rowdyboy]

45. Its not the America I grew up in.....

I miss my country

[Voltaire99]

20. Could they look into the whole anal thing?

I mean, really get to the bottom of it.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. Bwahahahaha!

It calls for an in-depth probe!

[Oeditpus Rex]

22. 'Either you're with us

or you're with the nekkid boobies."

:puke:

[CantGetFooledAgain]

25. Porn. The greatest danger facing America.

If I was going to distribute resources in the FBI, I think I'd concentrate on corporate crime. Oh I forgot, that's protected in this fascist state.

[Initech]

26. Ah, the good ol' Ameritaliban is at it again!

Good work! But once they get to Los Angeles, they'll have a damn hard time shutting down Flynt Publishing!

[lyonn]

34. Religious Right is our Taliban was my husband's

comment this a.m. when he heard it on the news. Are we having an election? Ya know, guns, gays and god. Not election time, so, bush's ratings must be way down. Gotta stir up the lousy base again.

bush couldn't get food and water to thousands that were desperate and doesn't appear to care whether he screwed up that responsibility, but, get the FBI to rid us of porn seems profitable. Nothing changes with this crowd.

[Initech]

49. I cant believe the GOP keeps going after this demographic!

The three G's - guns, gays, and god. Ugh.

[DIKB]

28. Right.

I'm sick of * using OUR TAX DOLLARS to appeal to HIS BASE !!!! :grr:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

30. I wonder how many agents are going to volunteer for that line of duty?

And is the next step going to be drapes over nude paintings and sculptures throughout the country?

These folks really need therapy or something!

[Skip Intro]

31. Its not anti-porn, its anti-freedom.

These twisted fucks really piss me off.

[Norwood]

32. Well thank god!

Its about time they started focusing on whats really wrong with this country!

</:sarcasm: >

[mitchum]

37. Right...like teenage Jesus never whacked off to Song of Solomon

sure....
these bluenose bastards are in such denial

[femrap]

39. Let me say to all of you ever so grand porn loving,

highly intelligent, and I guess Corporate kiss-asses who love to keep Big Sleez Biz in tons of money....I hope your daughters, sisters, and mothers get to make a decent living...hopefully $9/hour with health benefits (at least AIDS testing) performing DP and ATM! I hope the FBI boys enjoy watching them....

Glad to see that the DUers are so sophisticated that demeaning and humilating women is cool.

Anyone else smell hypocrisy? No....oh, that's right...women are just here to serve, aren't they?

I hate what this country has become....a bunch of liberals willing to die for the right of Big Biz to make money on women's humiliation and servitude....go DUers....wow....really into FREEDOM, aren't ya?

[Kurovski]

42. Thank you for sharing.

If the porn biz brought only $9 an hour, folks wouldn't be clamering to enter it.

Men wouldn't go "gay for pay" if it were for $9 an hour.

People all over America wouldn't be opening their own websites. Which reminds me, I thought George was for the entrepreneurial spirit? What happened to that?

[mitchum]

44. Damn! And I thought you would attack me for the "blasphemy"...

I guess you just never can tell...

[TankLV]

46. Psst - there's a WHOLE INDUSTRY devoted to GAY PORN!

That doesn't feature a SINGLE WOMAN - except in the role of PRODUCER or FINANCIER!

What a complete and utter bullshit statement.

Don't like porn - DON'T BUY IT!

I happen to like it occasionally - and believe me - it never involves a single "woman" (or is it "womyn" with you?) honey (and I use the term "honey" as condescendingly as I can)!

[Biased Liberal Media]

50. You've completely missed the point

we're talking about Freedom of Speech here. This is LEGAL. Not kiddie porn- but consenting ADULT porn.

However negative you want to view it, people have the right to view it. I hope someone strikes this down as completely unconstitutional, because that's exactly what it is.

I'm a female and porn doesn't bother me, but the fact that the government is continuously trying to meddle in our personal affairs IS. As for the whackjob fundamentalists out there- like the bumper sticker says, Focus on your OWN damn family.

[mongo]

56. And you're just looking for the freedom

to tell other women what they can and cannot do with their own lives.

As far as the smelling the hypocrisy, she who smelt it, dealt it.

[buddysmellgood]

38. NEWSFLASH: Federal Masterbation Task Force raids Boyscout camp! Filmat11

[Kurovski]

43. Masturbation. It's Masturbation.

[TankLV]

47. I say potato, you say potatoe. I say tomato, you say tomatoe.

Tomato.
Tomatoe.
Potato.
Potatoe.

Lets just all jack off!

[Kurovski]

48. Hehehe! Ok, Dan Quayle.

You can count on it.

[buddysmellgood]

61. Nah uh, it's a Bush task force

[Kurovski]

64. Ahh! Nice recovery!

:thumbsup:

[Biased Liberal Media]

51. We're wasting our tax dollars on THIS bullshit

while people are 1, preparing to possibly lose their homes in texas, and 2, while MS, AL, and LA citizens try to rebuild what is left of their lives??

Someone please wake me up when this shit is over with.

I hope there is a judge out there with half a brain in his head that rules this unconstitutional and a complete waste of our tax dollars.

[mongo]

58. Judge Lancaster, Pittsburgh district court

Just did a few months ago - we're waiting for the appeal.

I hope there is a judge out there with half a brain in his head that rules this unconstitutional and a complete waste of our tax dollars.

[Doctor_J]

54. They called with an offer for me to work on the squad -

$300/wk. I told them I wouldn't pay any more than $250.

(An old Leonard Barr bit.)

[Mari333]

57. Perhaps Osama Bin Laden can make a porn flick

and then, they can catch him?

[Kurovski]

59. Title it "Talibuns". OBL can call himself

"Osama bin Proddin'"

There's built-in group action found in the heaven scene. Quite an ending.

Edit: Characters George W and Jeff Gannon do a male/male cameo, "fiddling" while "Al Gayda" burns and grows to unmanageable, trembling proportions.

[mvd]

60. Oh geez - sounds like Ashcroft

I knew Torture Boy would be untrustworthy on civil rights, but I thought he would be better in getting priorities straight. I don't even pay attention to porn and I think this is silly.

[Nictuku]

62. What this is REALLY about:

The beginning of the total crackdown and conrrol of the Internet.

Believe it.

[mitchum]

63. You are absolutely correct