1. In Glenn's post he first states that the new law will give the Bush admin the right to intercept American international communications including phone calls and emails. Later, however, he leaves out the international modifier. Thus, will they also be able to spy on all purely domestic communications?

2. Is it true that the surveillance began on Bush's order post 9/11? If so, was a determination made that QWEST CEO Joseph Nacchio's claim that it began before 9/11 false? If not, how could Congress pass anything without finding out?

Thanks!

Quick video that I made Tuesday that goes to Glenn's point...

http://www.hotpotatomash.com/2008/02/will-congress-f.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SYyBUCDOU8

Link above is a video mashup showing Brian Ross spreading the word that the torture of Khalid Sheik Mohammed led to intel that enabled the Bush admin to thwart a terrorist plot to fly jet planes into the Library Tower in Los Angeles.

Only, Mohammed was arrested AFTER the alleged plot was prevented. Thus, even a simple Wikipedia search would have confirmed to Ross that he was spreading lies and propaganda.

I wrote an email to Ross about this which was never returned and the story was never retracted.

Odds starting at 2:1, who wants to bet?

http://www.hotpotatomash.com/2007/07/video-mashup-ne.html

YOUTUBE VIDEO OF GLENN ON DEMOCRACY NOW

http://www.hotpotatomash.com/2008/04/must-watch-glen.html

Glenn, you are the best but you always seem to leave the massive GOP effort to disenfranchise Democratic leaning voters out of your equation. By your calculation if the presidential election is about issues the Democrat will win and if the right wing smear machine/MSM has its way McCain will win.

But doesn't the recent Supreme Court VoterID decision in Indiana, the continuous DoJ effort to purge state voter rolls and the continued use of problematic voting machines, among many other disenfranchisement tactics, also deserve to be part of the equation?

Or Harry Reid? Pretty please with sugar on top!

This Countdown interview with GW Law Prof. Jonathan Turley is not to be missed. In it he states unequivocally that Dems are eviscerating the 4th Amendment to protect themselves with this bill. Once the Dem leadership was exposed to having knowledge of all the Bush illegality they have been chomping at the bit to cover it up...

http://www.hotpotatomash.com/2008/06/democrats-collu.html

Glenn writes: "But if Bush does end up issuing full-scale pardons for anyone involved in his illegal torture and surveillance programs, how can the Democratic leadership and pundit class object?"

Object? As Ford makes clear, this would be a dream come true for Democrats. This is what the "Democratic" leadership wants more than anything. It gives them a free pass to sweep everything under the rug without taking a hit from the annoying Constitution-obsessed bloggers. Hell, they can even parade themselves throughout the MSM crying injustice to score points with the commoners. There can be no better scenario for our "Democratic" leaders.

Back in 2006 Brian Ross was probably the greatest single voice in the media spreading propaganda about how torture is an effective tool in the run-up to the passage of the highly controversial Military Commissions Act. Ross was so popular in spreading his inside, multi-sourced, information about how the torture/waterboarding of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed provided "very valuable information" that the ABC News investigator even appeared on Fox News "The O'Reilly Factor":

Ross: "In the case of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed the information was very valuable, particularly the names and addresses of people who were involved with al-Qaeda in this country and in Europe, and in one particular plot that would involve an airline attack on the tallest building in Los Angeles known as the Library Tower."

O'Reilly: "Are you 100% sure that what these anonymous sources told you is true?"

Ross: "Yes"

O'Reilly: "100 percent"

Ross: "100 percent. We have enough sources."

O'Reilly: "I believe you. You've been around and you are the best in the business I think. So I believe you."

PROBLEM IS that the plot to break up the attack on the Library Tower in Los Angeles was derailed before Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was arrested. Thus, Ross was spreading a lie that that a basic Google or Wikipedia search would have cleared up.

I wrote Ross at the time and never heard back or saw them issue a correction. Oh, and the Bush administration got the Military Commissions Act - with its torture provisions - passed.

Here's a video mashup I made showing the absurdity of Ross's claims: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SYyBUCDOU8

More on Ross here: http://www.hotpotatomash.com/2007/07/say-it-isnt-so-.html

The Robert Kagan's of the world (like the Bill Kristol and Frank Gaffney's of the world) are paid a lot of money from defense contractors (directly and indirectly) to spout their nonsense. Thus, it is difficult to know whether they are true believers or if they are merely cashing very lucrative pay checks.

In any case, much of their money comes from wealthy right-wing elites and the military industrial complex which get tax breaks by giving large sums of money to the "think tanks" they run and work for. Adding to this absurdity is that, at least as far as the corporations go, they don't even have to publicly disclose who their money is supporting.

Thus, you literally end up with situations where a warmonger like Gaffney is writing articles in support of the V-22 Osprey in the Washington Times while getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the aircraft's manufacturer Boeing.

Luckily, with the Dems now in firm control of Congress and the presidency, these ridiculous tax loopholes that have given rise to the dangerous think tanks that feed our military industrial complex will surely be ended. Right, and I have a bridge for sale...