William Rivers Pitt - Going Too Far

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[Zepps_News] t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | Going

Too Far

 

 

 

 

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122905A.shtml

 

Going Too Far

By William Rivers Pitt

t r u t h o u t | Perspective

 

Thursday 29 December 2005

 

The bouncer at my bar is named Ty. A native of New Orleans, he

speaks with the slow drawl unique to the region, and he is huge. Not

outlandishly huge, not freakishly huge, but definitely one of the larger

specimens of human one is likely to meet. He works the door at my joint,

as well as at another bar down the street a ways. Ty is smart, funny as

all get-out and a marvelous spinner of tales.

 

Each night Ty works he regales my friends and me with stories of

mayhem and bouncer-justice, of the drunken boobs stupid enough to think

they can push him around at the other establishment. My bar, one gets

the sense, is too peaceful for his tastes; he has never been forced to

exercise his talents while working at my joint.

 

Ty and I have assiduously observed the tenets of that invisible sign

which hangs over the door of every drinking establishment in America:

" Thou Shalt Not Discuss Religion Or Politics In This Place. " The two

reasons for this are straightforward: I don't particularly relish the

idea of discussing work when I am in my cups; also, Ty is an ardent Bush

supporter, so the first reason becomes doubly significant. If I want to

get frustrated and annoyed, I can just turn on CNN and listen to the

Know-Nothings ply their wares.

 

A funny thing happened the other night, however - something that

changed the whole dynamic of our relationship. I was passing by Ty, and

he grabbed me by the arm to pull me aside. He knows what I do for a

living, and wanted to discuss politics in defiance of the invisible

sign. " What do you think of the Patriot Act? " he asked me.

 

" I think it's a damned troubling thing, " I said after a moment.

" There are aspects of it that have been on the books for years because

of the War on Drugs. There are aspects of it that are brand new to

American law. Overall, I think it is tremendously invasive and not in

line with how we have done things in this country. As a Republican, " I

said with a bit of the needle in my voice, " the issues of personal

freedom and governmental interference should bother you. "

 

" I ain't no Republican, " he said. " I'm an Independent. I think

they're all crooks. "

 

" Fair enough, " I said, " but you are a Bush supporter. "

 

" Yep, " he drawled. " So what parts of the Patriot Act don't you like? "

 

" Well, " I said, " one scary part of it is Section 215, the thing

people call the 'Sneak-and-Peek' provision. Section 215 says law

enforcement can enter your house, search your stuff, bug your phone, bug

your computer - and they never have to tell you they were there. The FBI

could have 215'd their way into my house and I'd never know it. Hell,

they could be there right now. All they need to do it is a warrant

signed by a judge somewhere. "

 

" That ain't right, " he said after a moment's consideration. " But at

least they have to talk to a judge. "

 

" Well, " I said, " have you heard about all this stuff with the

National Security Agency spying on people here in America? "

 

" Little bit, yeah, " he said.

 

" You know that the NSA can spy on pretty much anyone, tap their

phones, do total surveillance? " I asked, and he nodded. " Well, back in

2002, Bush told the NSA to start spying on Americans. Lots of them. But

he did this without going through the FISA court. "

 

" FISA court? " he asked.

 

" FISA stands for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which

was passed in 1978, " I said. " After Watergate and all that craziness,

they wanted to make sure our intelligence services weren't being used by

people in power to spy on Americans. If you want to get the NSA to spy

on Americans, you have to get a warrant from what's called the FISA

court. They're a few judges who hear arguments for special FISA warrants. "

 

" OK. "

 

" Now here's one of the crazy parts with this Bush-NSA thing, " I

said. " To get a warrant from this FISA court, you don't need to have

probable cause. You don't need to have evidence. The FISA court has

handed out more than 19,000 warrants since it was set up, and has only

denied four. And they do it quickly, because obviously if you go before

the FISA court for a warrant, you're probably pressed for time. It's the

easiest court in America to get a warrant from. Bush totally blew past

them, said he didn't need warrants from the FISA court, and just had the

NSA start spying away on Americans. "

 

Ty's response to this was too profane to be printed here.

 

" Why the hell'd he do that? " he finally asked.

 

" Good question, " I said. " There are two probable reasons, neither of

which are very comfortable. The first reason is that he and Cheney want

to expand the power of the Executive Branch. Cheney, specifically, has

always felt that the Executive let go of too much power after Watergate

and Vietnam, gave too much power to Congress and the press, and these

guys have been trying to get it back. So they decided that since we are

'at war,' they were going to do whatever they damned well pleased. "

 

" Seems smart, " he said.

 

" Maybe, " I said, " but that's a different debate. Ask yourself this,

though. Imagine a Democrat wins the White House in 2008. These Bush guys

will have left this Democrat with outrageously broad powers. His people

can spy on whom they like, because Bush did it. They don't have to get

warrants, because Bush did it. They can lie to the press, because Bush

did it. They can bulldoze Congress, because Bush did it. That make you

comfortable? "

 

" Hell no, " he said.

 

" Right, " I said. " Too much power is too much power, no matter who is

in power. The separation of powers is there for a reason. "

 

" So what's the other reason you think he didn't get the FISA

warrants? " he asked.

 

" That, " I said, " is actually the scarier part. Like I said, FISA has

given out those 19,000 warrants and has only denied four. It's

incredibly easy to get a warrant from them. The only reason they're

there at all is to safeguard your privacy and mine, to make sure some

crazy maniac in the White House doesn't start spying on Americans, on

personal enemies, on you and me. The NSA can do that, so the FISA court

is there as a firewall. "

 

" OK, " he said.

 

" So maybe, " I said, " Bush didn't go to the FISA court because he

knew they wouldn't give him the warrants. Maybe he didn't go to the FISA

court because he wanted to spy on enemies like Patrick Fitzgerald, like

Joe Wilson, like Cindy Sheehan, like Tom Daschle or Harry Reid, or

anyone else who was messing with him. Maybe he didn't go to the FISA

court because he knew the surveillance he wanted was illegal, but he was

damned well going to do it anyway. "

 

" That ain't right, " said Ty, his face reddening.

 

" Now take this all one step further, " I said, " since you asked about

the Patriot Act. Think about that Section 215 and the sneak-and-peek

stuff. I told you they need to see a judge first to come into your home,

to search and bug your stuff. But this whole NSA deal shows that Bush

and these guys don't give a hoot in hell for judges, warrants or the

process of law. They're going to do what they want to do, warrant or

not. We've got a situation now where Bush and his people could not only

be ordering the surveillance of Americans, but could also be authorizing

home invasions, and all without any kind of warrants and oversight. What

does that sound like to you? "

 

" Fascism, " he said without hesitating.

 

" This is the reason, " I said with a smile, " why I don't talk

politics at the bar. I have a way of going on and on until the paint

peels. But let me ask you one last question. "

 

" Shoot, " he said.

 

" As a Bush supporter, " I said, " how far are you willing to go to

support the guy? How much individual liberty, how many laws, are you

willing to give up to Bush before we lose the country? How far is too

far? "

 

Ty didn't have anything to say at first. " This, " he finally

muttered, " is too damned far. "

 

At that moment, a crowd of people came into the bar, and Ty had to

check their IDs. I went back to my beer.

 

Drip, drip, drip.

 

 

 

--

 

 

" Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government

talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court

order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about

chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order

before we do so "

-George W. Bush, April 20, 2004

 

Not dead, in jail, or a slave? Thank a liberal!

Pay your taxes so the rich don't have to.

 

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