All we need is a hint the NSA intercepts involved the Wilsons, Sheehan

[bigtree]

That would be enough for this to blow into an impeachable scandal. Remember, impeachment committees don't necessarily concern themselves with fine points of the law.

[McCamy Taylor]

1. Not true. The Freepers will claim they are "pinkos". Taps on HILLARY,

those are what we need to sink this administration's battleship. Taps on any major Democratic Leader will be 100% partisan political in nature and will secure W.'s place as Nixon II. A tap on Howard Dean or the office of the DNC would be


P-E-R-F-E-C-T.

[bigtree]

3. Wilsons because of the ongoing investigation

Cindy Sheehan because an administration assault on a mother who has lost a son to Bush's military meddling would further tie Bush down to his immoral and illegal war. I don't believe that she's seen by most Americans as a 'pinko'.

[flyarm]

6. who else remembers people saying cell phones were blocked

when cindy sheehan was in crawford in aug/??..i remember that being a major complaint..that all of a sudden everyones cell phones were being blocked or scrambled...does anyone have any links to that?? or info on that??

fly

[AntiCoup2K4]

5. Shit... If they had a tap on Howard Dean's office....

....the DLC would come out to defend the Chimp.

[kster]

2. I think * will

resign real soon. Month or two.




My 2 cents.

[JDPriestly]

4. How about that the intercepts were of DU posts?

Also a possibility. As a matter of fact, the possibilities are endless. How about the possibility that the intercepts may have been of Democratic Party communiques or Kerry campaign aides' communiques. Any of the above or all of the above are possible.

The intercepts could have included spying on quite normal people -- like the Quaker groups that were in the news last week.

During the Kerry campaign, I regularly tabled at a farmer's market near my home. We had all kinds of visitors at our table, mostly Kerry supporters and moms with kids, but also some right-wingers. One day, a very neatly dressed man with a short haircut sat near enough but behind our table. He was did not look like the type of person you usually find at a farmer's market. And he acted a little strange too. He was staring into space, but it was very obvious to me that he was listening to what we were saying and watching what we were doing. After a while, I walked up to him and handed him a brochure. He started talking about how what Bush was doing in Iraq was right and somehow he mixed religion in. I commented that his statements were particularly interesting to me because I was opposed to Bush's conduct in Iraq for religious/moral reasons. We had a polite conversation. I'm not inclined to insult people. Then, finally I said, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. He seemed surprised when I said that. By the time I walked away we were on cordial enough terms although we clearly disagreed about everything we talked about. Later, I noticed he was gone. I wondered then, and I wonder now whether he was snooping. He just did not fit into the scene, and I had the feeling he was there to observe. He never came back. I never saw him again. I would not put it past the Bush administration to snoop on political opponents and to use government resources to do it.

Remember, however, that it was the Republicans who were so horrified that the Clinton White House may have reviewed some FBI files for Bush I employees. Ironic isn't it. That was nothing compared to the incursions on the privacy of private Americans that Bush has authorized.

[bigtree]

9. that's funny

we had a table at a farmer's market last year. There was a well dressed, clean cut man with 100 questions about our lives and our politics. We thought he was an agent of someone. But, I just wish they would go after the real threats. My wife and I threaten to . . . protest and vote. Not much of a threat, as individuals I think.

[JDPriestly]

11. I threaten to abide by the law.

How about that for a really scary proposition?

[bigtree]

13. if we 'abided by the law' like Bush they'd have cause to be afraid

just making up the rules as we plunder and destroy . . .

[roguevalley]

7. you can count on them being there. if not them, why spy at all? 95%

of this is going to be 'enemie's list' stuff. Just like Nixon. Capital Hill Blue had this online months ago. Sort of vindication for them I suspect. :)

[bigtree]

10. CHB

". . . aided by the USA Patriot Act, the Bush Administration has compiled dossiers on more than 10,000 Americans it considers political enemies and uses those files to wage war on those who disagree with its policies.

The “enemies list” dates back to Bush’s days as governor of Texas and can be accessed by senior administration officials in an instant for use in campaigns to discredit those who speak out against administration policies or acts of the President."

The computerized files include intimate personal details on members of Congress; high-ranking local, state and federal officials; prominent media figures and ordinary citizens who may, at one time or another, have spoken out against the President or Administration."

and this from the CHB article:

"White House insiders tell disturbing tales of invasion of privacy, abuse of government power and use of expanded authority under the USA Patriot Act to dig into the personal lives of anyone the administration deems an enemy of the state."

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7625.shtml

[bigtree]

8. Doesn't all of this relate to Bolton's admitted use of the intercepts?

If so, then Bolton would have been in a position to get information on Joe Wilson and his wife from NSA intercepts. During the John Bolton hearings for the UN post, it was revealed that when he was at the State Department, he requested and recieved summaries of intercepts between foreigners and "U.S. persons" and got the NSA to tell him who the U.S. citizens were. They gave up whatever files he requested without asking why he wanted the dossiers or what they were to be used for.

Newsweek reported on Aug.10 that from January 2004 to May 2005, the National Security Agency had supplied names of some 10,000 American citizens to policy makers throughout the government, other American intelligence services and law enforcement agencies:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/opinion/10keefe.html?ex=1281326400&en=bd9166e55789a526&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


and this:


"John Bolton, the former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs who is now the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was contacted by I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in late May 2003 to find out who sent Ambassador Joseph Wilson on a fact-finding mission to Niger, lawyers involved in the CIA outing investigation told RAW STORY over the weekend. Wilson was sent to Niger to ascertain whether Iraq had sought to purchase uranium from the African country."

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Laywers_involved_in_leak_case_say_1102.html

It's not a far leap to assume that the NSA intercepts were used through Bolton to Libby and others. No clear evidence yet, but, it would explain the scramble by Bush to disassociate himself from any muckraking by his surrogates, at his direction or not. The prospect of a Fitz indictment is no secret.

The Bush administration viewed Joe Wilson as more than just a domestic nusiance. He represented a threat to their campaign to sell the war, and to them, opposition to their march to war was akin to treason. The way they put the need for war with Iraq was that any other course was a threat to our national security. They had to knock Joe Wilson down because he threatened support for their expedition at a crucial point. He was, in their mind a threat akin to the terrorists themselves.

[Norquist Nemesis]

12. OR any of the six Dems that were running for Pres

like Kerry, Edwards, Clark, or Dean.