Reply #28: Shamrock! There's the name I was looking for.

[sofa king]

I'd forgotten the name of Shamrock, "probably the largest government interception program affecting Americans ever undertaken," according to Frank Church. God Bless Bella Abzug and her headgear.

The spook quoted above suggests that the revelations will move on to other subjects, and I agree. Specifically, I think there will be revelations about cell phone tracking, both by cell tower and by GPS.

But I have yet to see anyone speculate on what must be among the federal government's most coveted data: credit card purchases and purchases tracked by those bullshit "membership cards" that you have to get to pay mere retail price for grocery store food and other small goods.

I guarantee you they want those records, and I think it's pretty likely that they got it. Woe to you if you've ever purchased bleach and ammonia at the same time.

The problem with collecting this sort of information is that as soon as you do, someone comes along with a compelling reason to use it against your own citizens. For example, as soon as Robert Kennedy learned about the predecessor to Operation Shamrock, he sent NSA a list of racketeers to monitor, which, according to Polmar and Allen, "undoubtedly contributed to Kennedy's success in prosecuting major crime figures." If those guys were willing to do that then, just try to imagine what these people--unscupulous, unsupervised, and criminal to a degree never seen in modern times--are doing right now.

One thing I'm curious about is what's going to happen when it becomes known that cell phone tracking is and has been recorded and used by both law enforcement and the domestic spies. I have a feeling that a whole lot of people in jail right now will suddenly realize that the federal government possesses information which might exonerate them, had defense attorneys known to ask for it. Soon, perhaps, they will. Won't that be fun.