No Pay, No Play

We've gone from the ridiculous to the sublime:

Telephone companies cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time, according to a Justice Department audit released Thursday.

The faulty bookkeeping is part of what the audit, by the Justice Department's inspector general, described as the FBI's lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. Poor supervision of the program also allowed one agent to steal $25,000, the audit said.

More than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance in five unidentified FBI field offices were not paid on time, the report shows. In one office alone, unpaid costs for wiretaps from one phone company totaled $66,000.

And at least once, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation — the highly secretive and sensitive cases that allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies — "was halted due to untimely payment."

David Kurtz sums up:

Supporters of telecom immunity argue that the telecoms were doing their patriotic duty by caving to Administration requests for illegal wiretapping. That patriotism apparently has its limits: like when the government fails to pay the wiretapping phone bills.

Where's my Rapture when I need it.

Move Over, FISA

Chertoff's in town:

After delaying a domestic satellite-surveillance program for more than two months, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expects to finalize a new charter for it this week, a move that attempts to quell civil-liberties concerns and get the program back on track.

Mr. Chertoff also plans soon to unveil a cyber-security strategy, part of an estimated $15 billion, multiyear program designed to protect the nation's Internet infrastructure. The program has been shrouded in secrecy for months and has also prompted privacy concerns on Capitol Hill because it involves government protection of domestic computer networks.

Both areas put Homeland Security in the middle of a public debate over domestic spy powers, kicked off by the revelation two years ago that the National Security Agency had been eavesdropping on some conversations in the U.S. without a warrant. In the fall, the department put the satellite program on hold after an outcry on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have also asked Mr. Chertoff to delay the introduction of the cyber-security initiative. "One lesson I've learned is it's not enough to say we know what we're doing is going to be OK," Mr. Chertoff said in an interview. "We've got to really make it clear to the public that we're doing this, but we're not doing that."

...

The charter will clarify that the satellite program will follow all current U.S. legal restrictions on technical surveillance. Where a warrant is required for collection, one will be obtained before that activity is approved. Under the charter, the program won't use technology to intercept verbal communications.

Can't... hold... back... any... longer....

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

If you don't comply, zombie Chertoff will eat your brains

Quick! Somebody Fire TIME Magazine!

We've gone from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Leadership

Dodd:

Contrast Dodd's leadership and conviction on this matter with the complete passivity and invisibility of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both candidates finally issued statements last night purporting to set forth their views on telecom amnesty and the FISA bill -- but did so only because they were forced to, after they learned that several blogs, in conjunction with MoveOn, intended to launch efforts today to pressure their campaigns finally to say where they stood on the Dodd filibuster.

Whatever that is, it's the opposite of "leadership." And it is this passivity and amorphous, shapeless, inspiration-free invisibility that has come increasingly to characterize both of their campaigns, along with the leadership of their party. That is why Dodd's relatively mild actions have generated such intense enthusaism and support -- a drop of water to someone stranded in the desert will seem like a royal feast.

I've pointed out his leadership before, but I think my mind is settled now: I'm voting for Chris Dodd in the primary.

Not Good Enough

Legislate harder. Granting immunity to the telcos means Bush wins and America loses.

9/11!! Terror!!!! IRAQ!!!!!!

Therefore, do whatever we tell you!!!

U.S. authorities racing to find three kidnapped American soldiers in Iraq last May labored for nearly 10 hours to get legal authority for wiretaps to help in the hunt, an intelligence official told Congress on Thursday.

The top U.S. spy agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, sent Congress a timeline detailing the wiretap effort as the Bush administration makes its case to wary Democrats for a permanent expansion of its authority to eavesdrop on the foreign communications of terrorism suspects.

"In order to comply with the law, the government was required to spend valuable time obtaining an emergency authorization ... to engage in collection related to the kidnapping," Ronald Burgess, principle deputy director to McConnell, said in a letter to U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes.

This is nothing but a sack full of disgraceful lies.

The illegal wiretapping that Bushco is trying to set up retroactive immunity to only applies to eavesdropping on the domestic communications of U.S. citizens. The government has always had the power to wiretap in other cases.

According to Reuters, McConnell said "the targeted foreign communications were carried in part on a wire inside the United States", which makes no sense, since these American soldiers were in Iraq, unless you consider McConnell's true motive, which is the ability to spy on U.S. citizens so they can crack down on domestic dissent.

I hope Congress doesn't give into the terror inspired by the Bush administration and instead cracks down on its unlawful activities.