Matt still thinks that Bush broke the law by allowing NSA intercepts from outside of the US by those suspected of Al Qaida ties with someone in our country. I must admit, that I was puzzled by the lack of use of FISA to get warrants when they could be applied for retroactively. Because my job involves thinking about what else it could be, I assumed it had something to do with the fact that we are at war, and that Bush like most of the presidents before him, was looking to preserve the perogatives of his office.
I think that Bush suffers from the same problem that I have though in making his defense. I forget that what I know, may not be known to everyone. I tend to gloss over some things because I assume that everyone knows it, so no sense wasting time remaking the argument.
Now it seems, I have finally found out why he bypassed FISA. Apparently, if you got a FISA court warrant, it was limited to that side of the conversation that was outside of the country. Leaving you with only one side of the conversation. In fact, the NSA would not release the US side of the conversation even with a warrant.
A sample interecept might have looked like this:
Mohammed? It's me Osama, how's it going?
. . . .
Great, and the wives and kids?
. . . .
Yeah, I know, but what can you do? I've got that niece who is posing nude just to incite the Infidels, and I should have her executed, but I must be getting soft in my old age, that and sitting in this cave makes me remember her creamy skin, her. . . . Oops, sorry, got distracted.
Anyway, the reason that I am calling is, did you get the nukes we bought from Russia?
. . . .
Oh great. So where are you going to use them?
. . . .
Good plan. Now when are you going to set them off?
. . . .
Wow, that will be cool. How are you going to get them into place?
. . . .
That's brilliant. Well, it seems as though you have everything under control. Let me know if you need anything else. Bye, and best to your wives.
Now, a good analyst could tease out quite a bit of information. However, if you had both sides of the conversation, it would take even less time and be more accurate.
This explanation makes more sense than anything else that I have heard.
3 comments:
That you think you could convince someone with a website "Left in the West" that Bush doesn't break the law merely by breathing, is an act of purest optimism. Happy New Year.
P.S.
I may be changing the look of my blog soon and in order to do so I lose all my links, so if my link to your blog isn't up right away it isn't that you've been dropped or blackballed,it's just part of the process. It will be back up as soon as possible, as I enjoy your site.
XB234C
Good luck with the reformatting. As for Matt, I do enjoy reading his blog, even if I do disagree with him on most points. The thing about Matt that I like more than other sites is that while he is usually driven by his perspective and agenda, he is willing to entertain other thoughts better than anyone else on the Left that I read.
You're right, he is interesting to read. I'm driven by my perspective and agenda as well so I am no different.
Post a Comment