Except in the ME, or facing off the NorK.

We have flatops (floating cities with airports), the best and most massive air transport and drop capability, nuclear subs and blue water navy and and the best amphib invasion force on the planet.

I am most interested in the former Qwest CEO’s legal problems. He was convicted of criminal insider trading. Qwest also had a lot of other problems at the same time.

My dad had real trouble with them (he had a cellphone that was too complicated, talked to a Qwest rep who recommended that they exchange it for a simpler one, they sent a new one to him and it turned out to be identical to the first one. They then charged him for two phones and were going to charge him $500 or $600 to turn off the first one). The entire transaction was pure smarm.

I then Googled Qwest and Fraud and the screen lit up. This was just one of many scams being perpetrated by Qwest. We fought them and won. When the government went after Nacchio it seemed like just desserts.

On second look, this whole case has the stench of the Don Siegelman case to it, “You play ball with us and you’re OK. If not, we’ll destroy you.” Who else comes to mind? Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein jump right out.

So, Naccio was convicted for a stock scam. Qwest refused to perform illegal spying on its domestic clients. It now turns out that billions of US contracts that the company was promised around that time never materialized, so his company’s finances withered. Companies who did play ball and allowed complete (illegal) government access to their systems, e.g., AT&T & Verizon, thrived.

Right now Nacchio is seeking classified papers detailing Qwest’s business dealings with clandestine government agencies and asking dismissal of his charges if he can’t use them:

http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/14/nacchio-qwest-sec-face-markets-cx_af_1212autofacescan03.html

And while we in this conspiratorial frame of mind, how about Harry Reid? Is it more than possible that someone contacted him with evidence of his own illegality (probably gained through clandestine wiretaps) and told them that he had better play ball or be destroyed? It is one of the very few rational explanations that I can imagine for his going belly up on this most important issue.

So, if the telecoms get their whitewash with the loving attention of ‘give ‘em hell Harry’, the 4th Amendment is, essentially, history.

The next step is whether the government can compel someone to give up their PGP password and, thereby, eviscerate the 5th amendment:

http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html.

A judge ruled that a user does not need to give up his password because by doing so he would incriminate himself, thereby giving up his 5th amendment rights. This case will be appealed. If the Supremes vote that a user must give up his password, then the 5th follows the 4th Amendment out the window. Right now, there are some factions who will argue that the very fact that someone is using encryption is, by definition, an acknowledgment that they are doing something illegal.

The next step, if all of these items go through, will be to take away Net Neutrality. If that is the case, certain sites, such as Salon.com and Digby.com could be choked and blocked and only ‘good’ sites, such as Fox News and Drudge could get through. After all of these ‘improvements’ America will at long last be freed from the clutches of the terrorists and peace will reign on earth.

Yeah.

"What's the harm?" you ask.The problem is that nobody outside the Bush regime -- including the Congress -- has any idea of the scope of the domestic surveillance.

On the other hand you don't know for sure that's true. More to the point, it's only just recently that the left is willing to accept the fact that Congress was briefed on anything at all.

Is it really so hard to imagine that these powers, unchecked by judicial or congressional oversight, will be abused?

Which is why Bush keeps going to Congress and FISA for review. The idea that there is NO oversight whatsoever is just wrong. What keeps the left up at night is that they don't have oversight. And for good reason. It would be nanoseconds from the time the left gets classified details and the Times publishing them.

Even more crucial, considering the sleazy actions of the Bush regime that have been exposed to date, isn't it highly probable to the point of certitude that these powers are being abused?

Excuse me. Sleazy is selling the Lincoln Bedroom, squashing the Barret Report, and insinuating one's opponent in the primaries sold drugs on the street corner. Bush has made mistakes, but they were on behalf of the country not himself. Moreover, your allegation is only that, an allegation. You've been listening too hard to the hysteria.

i now find it creepy every time i go thru a toll booth cause i see that they ar taking my picture every time i do.

Need some ideas for a picture or poster i can hold up in the windshield in these moments of invasion...

..

shooter gets perilously close to making sense.

Then he lets one of these rip...

Bush has made mistakes, but they were on behalf of the country not himself

and I wake up and realize it was all just a dream!

Then he lets one of these rip...

Bush has made mistakes, but they were on behalf of the country not himself

What's so good about letting people like that speak is that the more they speak, the more they reveal about the underlying thoughts - far more compellingly than anyone else could describe.

What he's really saying -- explicitly -- in the passage you quote is that "Dear Leader loves us and acts for our own good." Thus, even when he "errs" or breaks the law, he does it because he loves us.

God, that's creepy to read, but still valuable.