The DISH
Unbossed and unbought news and
information you can use
Vol.
8 No. 51…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…December
23, 2005
Intuit’s Vibe
The Spying Spider
By Don Tidwell
My bathtub is my haven
When I've had a busy day.
The soothing steamy water
Seems to soak my cares away.
Imagine my chagrin one night
When hiding from it all,
To see a big black spider
Clinging to the blue tile wall.
He ignored my keen displeasure
As he yo yo'd on his line—
He was practicing rapelling
And his technique seemed just fine.
I sensed that he was spying
On my privileged retreat....
That he thought my shiny earlobe
Might be something good to eat.
He crawled around his universe
Inspecting every tile,
Then climbed upon his special perch
To watch me for awhile.
We played the game of
"chicken"..
I matched him stare for stare.
He suddenly got careless
When he thought I didn't care.
I snatched that interloper...
His chance to live was gone!!
I wrapped him in a tissue
And flushed him down the john!!
Hood Notes
Counterintelligence Program
(COINTELPRO)
FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover spied on hundreds of blacks and civil rights groups in
an effort “to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize”
their activities. After the landmark Supreme Court school desegregation
decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Hoover launched his
Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), which targeted civil rights groups
and others.
By
1957, FBI agents routinely spied on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). FBI “black bag” operations and dirty tricks included
unauthorized wiretaps, break-ins, planted news articles, the dissemination of
false information, inciting street warfare between rival groups and using the
IRS to harass targeted individuals and organizations.
On
March 4, 1968, FBI Headquarters issued a memo expanding its domestic
surveillance activities. It warned
that Dr. King, among others, could emerge as a ‘messiah’ that could unite and
electrify the black nationalist movement.
The memo called for the use of "imaginative" techniques and
required a progress report within 30 days. On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
Conservative
Judge Laurence H. Silberman, who recently co-chaired the bipartisan
presidential commission on intelligence failures, called for Hoover’s name to
be removed from the FBI building.
According to Silberman, Hoover allowed the Bureau to be used by
presidents for nakedly political purposes. He maintained secret files with bits of dirt on political
figures and used this information to blackmail his political enemies. Hoover offered Bureau files to
presidents, including Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
Ironically,
the explanation offered by the Bureau for its illegal activities was that the
agency found them to be necessary to protect national security and to prevent
violence. For “security reasons,
the FBI announced it was terminating COINTELPRO as of April 27, 1971.
Bit of
History
John Edgar Hoover (1895-1972)
Born
in Washington, DC, on January 1, 1895, John Edgar Hoover was valedictorian of
his Central High School class (1913).
After high school, Hoover worked for the Library of Congress and
attended night classes at George Washington University Law School. In 1916, he
earned his LL.B. The following
year he received his LL.M and was admitted to the bar. On July 26, 1917, Hoover began his
lengthy service with the United States Department of Justice.
Until
November 1918, when he was named Assistant to the Attorney General, Hoover led
the Department's General Intelligence Division (GID). In 1921, the GID moved to the Bureau of Investigation (BOI)
and Hoover became Assistant Director of the BOI. On May 10, 1924, Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone
appointed Hoover as Acting Director of the BOI. By the end of 1924, Hoover was FBI Director. At that time, the agency had a bad
reputation for political corruption.
Director
Hoover reorganized the department, fired political appointees and/or
unqualified agents and instituted rigorous selection and training methods for
FBI agents. He ordered background
checks, interviews and physical examinations for new applicants. Hoover also required agents to be
trained in the law or accounting.
In 1928, Hoover established the school for FBI personnel training.
In
1932, Hoover set up the FBI Laboratory to provide forensic analysis. He established the world’s largest
fingerprint file and introduced the most up-to-date scientific criminology and
research programs as the agency went to war against violent criminals. Under Hoover, many of the nation’s most
notorious gangsters were captured, incarcerated or killed.
In
1933, he formed the Civil Identification Section to supply information on
missing persons. Several years
later, the FBI National Academy was opened for training policemen from all
parts of the country in the latest methods of crime detection.
Hoover
wrote Persons in Hiding (1938), several other books and numerous
articles on crime and crime detection.
From the 1940s and after WWII, the FBI became the nation’s lead agency
on counterintelligence, counterespionage and counter-sabotage. President Roosevelt tasked the FBI with
running the Special Intelligence Service or SIS, a foreign intelligence service
in the Western Hemisphere.
Early
in the Cold War, the Bureau conducted background checks of government employees
to ensure that foreign agents did not infiltrate the government. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the
FBI expanded its investigations to include civil rights organizations and
organized crime. The threat of political violence occupied many of the Bureau's
assets, as did the threat of foreign espionage.
Hoover
received numerous awards and honorary degrees. A lifelong bachelor, Hoover headed the FBI for 48 years; he
died May 2, 1972. Through Public
Law 92-520, which President Richard Nixon signed May 4, 1972, the FBI building
became the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building. President Gerald Ford dedicated the building September 30,
1975. (Sources: http://www.fbi.gov/, ,
and )
Disgruntled
feels: Incredulous! The evening news recently featured a teenager that
audaciously robbed a bank to pay off his gambling debt. Gambling, like NASCAR
auto racing, is romanticized and packaged as a sport, similar to tennis and
golf. In commercials and
television programs, they are great American past-times. It is simply incredulous that the
public can still act surprised when impressionable young people die in car
crashes as a result of speeding and get deep in debt from gambling. They are simply imitating what the
media and industry push as “sports.”
Disgruntled wants to
know: An effective dirty
trickster requires great intelligence.
Karl Rove’s political savvy has no other contemporary equal. His reputation for political
character assassination suggests Rove enjoys access to a wealth of reliable
information. Known as George W. Bush’s Brain, Rove has been very successful in
using dirty tricks against his boss’ political opponents. While Bush takes the moral high ground
feigning born-again innocence, Rove ravages his opponents. One cannot help but wonder, does Rove
enjoy access to spy information collected by Bush authorized illegal
surveillance on US citizens?
Disgruntled says:
In an impassioned speech before the Senate in support of a measure
calling for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Ted Stevens
(R-Alaska) forthrightly stated, “Oil is a matter of national security!” For those unwilling to accept previous
assertions that oil played a vital role in the war in Iraq, now you know
better. When US leaders claim we
were defending our national security interest there, you know they are
referring to Iraq’s oil.
It’s Just A
Piece of Paper
By John Burl Smith
The
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but
upon probable cause, is a Fourth Amendment right granted by the US
Constitution. Last week (12-15-05)
US citizens learned that following September 11, 2001 George W. Bush
unilaterally suspended the Constitution (4th Amendment) and became a
dictator. The New York Times
revealed and Bush admitted he authorized the National Security Agency (NSA),
without probable cause or a court order, to spy on US citizens. Although he claimed to have the
authority to do so, Bush forced the New York Times to keep quiet about his
actions for more than a year.
A
year after learning of this illegal government operation, the New York Times
says, following 9-11, Vice President Dick Cheney called congressional leaders
of both parties, which included the chairman and ranking members of the Senate
and House intelligence committees, to the White House and briefed them on their
plans to suspend the 4th Amendment to spy on US citizens. It was not until 2003, when Sen. John
D. Rockefeller (D-WV) became vice chairman did anyone on the intelligence
committee express concern.
Bush
claims Congress’ resolution supporting the war on terror, a 2002 Justice
Department brief claiming “the Constitution vests in the President inherent
authority to conduct surveillance of foreign powers or their agents” and a
decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review allowing
cooperation between prosecutors and intelligence officers granted him powers to
violate citizens’ constitutional rights and spy on them without any court’s
authorization. To the contrary,
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who oversees the Federal Intelligence
Surveillance Court, questioned whether information obtained in this manner
could be used, since it was illegally obtained. Some officials believe warrantless wiretaps inside the US
are unlawful and unconstitutional; they amount to illegal searches. However, like the war of aggression in
Iraq, Bush proceeded over their cogent objections.
The
problem some members of Congress, watchdog groups, immigrants and civil rights
advocates have with any search without a warrant is it erodes personal
protections guaranteed by 4th Amendment civil liberties and intrudes
on privacy rights. These concerns
are at the heart of opposition to the USA Patriot Act, which expanded domestic
surveillance by the FBI to collect information from libraries and the
Internet. Moreover, this is
another “foot-in-the-door” that makes spying on protestors easier. It negates the court ban against the
government using public and private databases to spy on US citizens.
As
a survivor of COINTELPRO, Bush’s contempt for the Constitution surpasses the
dirty tricks of Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover. The lack of an outcry from
those who profess to believe in “the rule of law” is most troubling. Those who were victims of COINTELPRO
see others reliving the nightmare of having their rights violated by government
officials, law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges, while the media
spins government concocted stories of conspiracies to commit terrorist acts,
fund terrorist groups and disseminate erroneous information. Even though the
truth about COINTELPRO is known, many victims are still imprisoned (Mumia Abu
Jamal) or on the run (Shakur Assata). Back then, everyone was like George Bush
today, “Damn the Constitution, it’s just a fucking piece of paper!”
Politics
Y2K5
Abramoff’s Aria
According
to recent reports, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff might be talking with federal
prosecutors to cut a deal in the Justice Department investigation of
allegations that he defrauded his American Indian clients and conspired to
corrupt public officials. In
November, Abramoff's business partner Michael Scanlon pleaded guilty to plying
public officials with gifts and defrauding his clients. Scanlon’s singing makes things
difficult for Abramoff.
The
possibility of Abramoff joining the chorus puts pressure on politicians that
have taken campaign contributions from his former lobbying firm and helped promote
favorable legislation for his clients.
If Abramoff sings, a number of congressmen will be asked to furnish
notes to explain how they came to be in Abramoff’s lyrics.
Having
joined Abramoff on expensive excursions, accepted campaign contributions and
promoted his clients’ interests, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, former Majority
Leader Tom DeLay and others will have some serious explaining to do to escape
charges of political corruption.
Abramoff has said he is broke and might sing to avoid an expensive
trial. Political junkies eagerly
await Abramoff’s aria.
News You Use
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
(FISA)
“Those
that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve
neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin
In
general, the Fourth Amendment protects US citizens from unwarranted searches
and seizure. To obtain a search
warrant, there must be probable cause that a crime has been or is being
committed. Congress passed the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978 to established procedures
for legally conducting “foreign intelligence” surveillance. Basically, FISA grants the government
the right to spy on people in the United States in violation of the Fourth
Amendment.
Initially
limited to electronic eavesdropping and wiretapping, FISA was amended in 1994
to permit secret searches in connection with "security"
investigations. In 1998, it was
amended to permit pen/trap orders.
A pen register collects outgoing phone numbers placed from a specific telephone
line, and a trap and trace device captures the incoming numbers placed to a
specific phone line. In addition, FISA can be used to obtain certain business
records.
To
adjudicate surveillance requests, FISA established the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court (FISC), which is composed of federal district court judges
that are appointed by the Chief Justice.
FISC judges review surveillance applications, which must be personally
approved by the Attorney General.
Since its inception, FISC has approved more than 18,000 warrants. Rarely does the FISC deny a search
warrant request. A few were denied
in 2003 for the first time in the court’s history.
Passed
by Congress in 2001, the USA Patriot Act expanded the government’s ability to
use FISA to obtain the personal records of ordinary US citizens from libraries
and Internet Service Providers, to conduct secret searches of their homes and
offices, obtain a pen register/trap and trace device "for any
investigation to gather foreign intelligence," and use "roving
wiretaps" to intercept communications made to or by a target without
specifying the particular telephone line, computer or facility to be monitored.
The
use of "generic" surveillance orders could significantly impact the
privacy rights of large numbers of innocent users, particularly those who
access the Internet through public facilities such as libraries, university
computer labs and cybercafes. All
communications transmitted can be monitored, if the FBI suspects an
intelligence target might use those facilities.
With
the revelation that the Bush Administration engaged in domestic surveillance
without FISC approval, concerns about potential constitutional rights
violations under the USA-Patriot Act are justified. Coupled with a 2002 FBI memo, which “reveals that agents
illegally videotaped suspects, intercepted e-mails without court permission,
recorded the wrong phone conversations, and allowed electronic surveillance
operations to run beyond their legal deadline, we should all question whether
we give up too much liberty for whatever temporary safety is achieved in
trashing the Constitution. For more about FISA and the USA-Patriot Act, see .
Mailbox:
E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls
Email
johnb@ga.net The US Constitution is the
supreme law of the land. No
congressional act supercedes it.
George Bush claims the congressional resolution supporting the war on
terror authorized him to spy on US citizens without a court order, but it did
not amend the Constitution. If
Bush can suspend constitutional rights, he can dissolve Congress, as Adolf
Hitler did the Reichstag. Guilty of either breaking the law or suspending it,
if he is not held accountable for this high crime, Bush is an American
Hitler. As such, the interloper
should be flushed.
Email
US District Judge James Robertson, one of 11 members of the secret Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court, sent a letter to Chief Justice John G.
Roberts, Jr. late Monday notifying him of his resignation without providing an
explanation. Associates familiar
with his decision said that Robertson expressed deep concern about Bush’s
warrantless surveillance program.
Email
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday passed a six-month extension of the
terror-fighting USA Patriot Act as a last resort after Democrats and a small
group of GOP senators blocked the Republican attempt to make most of the
anti-terrorism law permanent. Approval of the six-month extension came on a
voice vote, and cleared the way for a final vote in the House possibly as early
as Thursday. Sixteen provisions in the current law expire Dec. 31 unless the
Congress and White House act.
Patriot Act critics said White House-pushed legislation did not provide
enough civil liberty safeguards and blocked the Republican-controlled Senate
from approving it last week.
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