Pass the Fork, Please.
Today the U.S. Supreme Court declined an opportunity for a peek at the man behind the curtain, refusing to certify for appeal a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of numerous Muslim lawyers, journalists and other American citizens, who argued the existence of the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program rendered them unable to perform their jobs.
Notoriously decided on the merits in favor of plaintiffs’ claims by Federal Circuit Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in August, 2006, the ruling in ACLU v. NSA was overturned and the case dismissed by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose 3 judge panel ruled 2-1 last year that, because the plaintiffs could not prove their communications had been monitored, they lacked standing to claim harm under the program.
As usual, Glenn Greenwald writes very plainly about what is going on and what are some of its implications.
For me, the takeaway from Glenn’s piece today would read:
In a minimally functioning Republic, when political leaders are accused of concealing wrongdoing, [the legislature] investigates, uncovers what happens, and informs the people.
When political leaders are accused of breaking the law, courts decide whether that occurred.
None of the branches of the U.S. government do that any longer. They do the opposite: they not only fail to perform those functions, but they affirmatively act to block investigations, help the conduct remain concealed, and ensure there is no adjudication.
When it comes to ensuring the NSA spying scandal specifically remains forever uninvestigated, secret, and unexamined, telecom amnesty will be the final nail in this coffin, but it is merely illustrative of how our political culture now functions.
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Big Brother Bill
Here’s something we seem to have forgotten:
“Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Over the course of the last several days, I have gotten a real education in just how easily a corporation can subvert the Constitution. My emails to six long-time friends who use Microsoft email services have been seized.
For some reason, Microsoft has decided that what you are reading at this very moment is spam – or at least that’s what Microsoft claims. I can’t help but wonder if they don’t like the content. Well, I guarantee they won’t like this content.
If this were only my problem, it could be ignored. But from what I’ve been able to determine on Internet forums, the problem is widespread. Even the geeks have thrown up their hands. I found only one possible work-around, and it required a tortured manipulation of computer-speak that would tax the abilities of a black-belt level network administrator.
I could try to establish a whole new identity and try to avoid MS spiders and spies for awhile at least. But that is impractical and patently unfair. Instead, I’m going to do something that seems much more reasonable and infinitely fairer.
I’m recommending that everyone stop using all forms of MS mail service such as Hotmail or MSN – and that you pass this on to all you know.
If you are using these services, I realize that changing will impose a burden on you. But trust me; you’ll be glad you did – unless you like having your emails read and rejected without you having any choice in the matter. Sort of reminds me of how my parents insisted on choosing my friends.
Frankly, this is much more sinister than that. This is the very sort of insidious behavior some of us warned about when this administration decided to start ‘protecting’ us by tapping into our private lives.
Some make the foolish argument that they aren’t doing anything wrong, so they have nothing to fear. They better think again. Ask yourself the obvious question: If AT & T or Verizon or whomever is providing the government with all your personal communications, what is to stop them from using that information for their own nefarious purposes?
The answer to that question becomes even more chilling once you realize that ‘our’ government is attempting to give these corporations blanket immunity for their acts. I can’t imagine a more obvious invitation to foul play.
Even without that immunity, a recent ruling by the Supreme Court points out the danger inherent in this folly. The court refused to hear a case because “the claimant had no standing”. Translated that means that if MS or Verizon reads your mail or taps your phone, you can’t bring a suit against them because any evidence that you were tapped is classified and therefore inadmissible. Even the existence of a program we all know exists is classified.
Talk about Catch-22!
You may continue to delude yourself that none of this applies to you, but I assure you, your PC has spyware on it right now – including that built into Windows XP and Vista. With each iteration, Windows becomes more and more pernicious and invasive. It’s high time we all said enough.
My plea to you to drop all forms of MS mail may be only one voice crying in the wilderness; but I assure you, if enough people take that advice and pass it on, even Microsoft will pay attention. That is democracy in action.
©2008 Tom Cordle
That’s quite a compelling tale, Tam O’… I’ve had a number of friends bail on Hotmail in th past few years, though I don’t know details about the whys or wherefores, just that they were “sick of it.”
At the present rate of trajectory, it’s not inconceivable that Orwell’s dystopian fantasy could be in place down to its every detail here in the US by 2084.
Even though Bill himself is apparently off doing charitable work these days, I think a recommendation to get as far and fast away as one can from anything Microsoft is good advice. I drank the Apple Kool-Aid myself a long time ago.
When Muslim groups said they were unable to do their jobs with survailance. What job were they refering to? and are telephone companies guilty of spying on you when Infact they didn’t spy on you? Doc
Doc, here’s what they do: They filter all our conversations and emails for specific words and phrases. They spy on everyone _literally_ except perhaps the ones they should. That’s why they don’t want to talk about it. Further, a) any serious terrorist knows this; b) encryption easily defeats this; and thus c) this strategy makes us no safer.
In any case they have all the authority they need to compel telecom companies to comply as long as they act lawfully. Oops, there’s the rub… if they didn’t break the law immunity wouldn’t be an issue.
–bubbles
Also, it’s not ‘Muslim groups’ who brought appeals for redress of grievances, it’s individual lawyers and journalists, as well as other American citizens, i.e.: not necessarily Muslims at all, who simply would like the Republic to function according to the laws that are on the books.
The entire Bush-led debasement of the Executive branch has been one long exercise in flouting the law and changing the position of the goalposts to suit its own nefarious, self-aggrandizing obsessions.