News > Politics > We Had A Good Run, Didnt We? So Long, America

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SUNDAY DECEMBER 9 2007 9:00 AM

We Had A Good Run, Didnt We? So Long, America

Finally, the government is privitizing domestic spying. I feel so safe now. When I think of America, I usually envision large companies sifting through all of my information, my home and hopefully, my unmentionables. Thankfully, this dream is coming true. Up until this point, information from domestic spy satellites was only used by scientific agencies. After 9/11, the NSA was given powers that allowed it to monitor domestic communications without getting those pesky warrants. And now the Bush administration is blowing it out!

Under a proposal being reviewed by Congress, a National Applications Office will be established to coordinate how the Department of Homeland Security and domestic law enforcement and rescue agencies use imagery and communications intelligence picked up by U.S. spy satellites. If the plan goes forward, the NAO will create the legal mechanism for an unprecedented degree of domestic intelligence gathering that would make the United States one of the world's most closely monitored nations.

Sweet. Monitor the shit out of us. We used to have this stupid law that confined intelligence collection to foreign countries and battlefields. Not anymore. And let's make sure private companies are a huge part of it, because they never do anything wrong and have continually shown throughout history that they can be trusted.

The intelligence-sharing system to be managed by the NAO will rely heavily on private contractors, including Boeing, BAE Systems, L-3 Communications and Science Applications International Corporation.

Mmmmm, safety. Nothing makes me feel safer than knowing BAE Systems has my back. Also my front. And my unmentionables.

Last month all the private domestic spy companies went to the intelligence conference in San Antonio and lobbied intelligence officials, in a giant, disgusting, display of everything that is wrong with our country. But, hey, those companies are the ones who told the government that we needed to expand our domestic spying, so bravo.

A study group was put together by a couple of government agencies and they thought it would be a great idea to use former intelligence officers. Many of them just happened to be employed by private intelligence companies, like Booz Allen. Guess what crazy conclusion they came up with?

Not surprisingly, its contractor-advisers called for a major expansion in the domestic use of the spy satellites that they sell to the government. Since the end of the Cold War and particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, they said, the "threats to the nation have changed, and there is a growing interest in making available the special capabilities of the intelligence community to all parts of the government, to include homeland security and law enforcement entities and on a higher priority basis."

Word. We think you should give us money to do stuff. Lots of stuff. Oh, did I mention were going to need lots of money? To do that stuff we said should be done? Thanks for asking. Hey, you know that thing I said we should be doing with that satellite? Turns out I can totally do that. And it will only cost millions of dollars. How weird is it that I am the guy who is able to do what I said needed to be done? For money?

The domestic spying contracts are worth billions of dollars and this is a brand new business. The new plan was revealed in August and caught some people off guard. Bennie G. Thompson, a Democratic member of Congress from Mississippi and the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee was surprised when he read about it in the Wall Street Journal.

There was no briefing, no hearing, and no phone call from anyone on your staff to any member of this committee of why, how or when satellite imagery would be shared with police and sheriffs' officers nationwide.

Well, that is probably because most Americans dont want to be spied on. Duh. Actually, maybe Im just being an alarmist and blowing this all out of proportion.

"It will terrify you if you really understand the capabilities of satellites," warned Jane Harman, a Democratic member of Congress from California. "Even if this program is well-designed and executed, someone somewhere else could hijack it.

Oh.

So far the NAO has been delayed. It was supposed to kick off on October 1st, but annoying Congress members and civil rights hippies have been making noise. Of course, later we will learn that the Bush administration did not delay the program. And then when we try to investigate, we wont be able to because all the information is classified. This entire program will always be classified, which is awesome, because it is watching us.

America is going forward, and as we do so, we must remain keenly aware of the threats to our country.

Those in authority should take appropriate precautions to protect our citizens. But we will not allow this enemy to win the war by changing our way of life or restricting our freedoms.

- George W. Bush, September 12, 2001.

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Comments

Formus

Milwaukee, WI

May 2007

DEC 09, 2007 08:23 PM

AmbientLight said:

SnowScoundrel said:
We need a new plague.

We have one... it's called the Bush/Cheney Virus and it seems to be very pernicious!

From what my sources tell me, there's already a cure for that taking hold:

michael9000000

New York, NY

July 2007

DEC 09, 2007 08:24 PM

MegaSurge said:

Moonrabbit said:

michael9000000 said:
Aren't we being a bit over-dramatic here?

Not to sound paranoid here or anything. But that is the kind of attitude that lets things like this be put into place unchallenged.
They count on it being too inconvenient for us to stand up for ourselves.

Indeed. I'm so sick of people claiming that they have nothing to hide so let them spy on them. They're clueless idiots to be quite frank...uneducated in the history of how such invasion corrupts those in prior and in up oppressing us all. Benjamin Franklin said, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.". There is a reason he said that...it's because he was no fool and knew the consequences of such a thing. But as long as people do nothing to tell Them we do not want such spying, then They will proceed. Frederick Douglass said, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.". The summary is that those that expect freedom but do nothing for it have already lost it. Personally, I have been doing whatever I can against this crap since before 2000, mainly be be active with the
ACLU and EFF. It may not seem like much but it is a centralized voice that is already organized.

Uh... you lost me...

I'm sure that Benjamin Franklin had a lot of great quotes about the value of liberty... but then again, Benjamin Franklin was a slave owner for 40-50 years.

I do applaud your efforts to be active in the community and fighting for what you believe to be right. I'm just curious about one thing... how do you feel about the ACLU defending the civil liberties of those sick fucks in NAMBLA?

zarth

Seattle, WA

December 2004

DEC 09, 2007 08:35 PM

michael9000000 said:
Uh... you lost me...

I'm sure that Benjamin Franklin had a lot of great quotes about the value of liberty... but then again, Benjamin Franklin was a slave owner for 40-50 years.

While that's technically true, he emancipated his slaves became an abolitionist late in life, and was always an opponent of racism. And your weird ad hominem against one of the more progressive Founding Fathers is kind of pointless.

michael9000000 said:
I do applaud your efforts to be active in the community and fighting for what you believe to be right. I'm just curious about one thing... how do you feel about the ACLU defending the civil liberties of those sick fucks in NAMBLA?

So you think there should be restrictions on our Constitutional protections of free speech? Perhaps Americans should only be free to say tasteful things?

michael9000000

New York, NY

July 2007

DEC 09, 2007 08:44 PM

Zarth said:

michael9000000 said:
Uh... you lost me...

I'm sure that Benjamin Franklin had a lot of great quotes about the value of liberty... but then again, Benjamin Franklin was a slave owner for 40-50 years.

So you think there should be restrictions on our Constitutional protections of free speech? Perhaps Americans should only be free to say tasteful things?

Technically true? Is that a special variety of true? LOL

Oh boy... we agreed for just a minute in another thread, but that's all over now.

Zarth, how can you say that Benjamin Franklin was "always an opponent of racism" when he owned slaves for more than half his life? Were his slaves white?

My problem with NAMBLA is not that I find their speech tasteless... my problem with NAMBLA is that they are a group of men who organize and network for the sake of making it easier to fuck young boys. That's not exercising free speech... that's conspiracy to commit a felony.