Trust the President?

[Paranoid Pessimist]

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that there are Americans who say, “Trust the president” with respect to spying on Americans, monitoring their conduct, and recording their telephone conversations without a judicially issued warrant. After all, there were those who said, “Trust the president,” when the president and his associates were scaring American grown-ups half to death with the imminent prospect of Saddam Hussein coming to the United States and exploding “mushroom clouds” over American cities. Throughout history, there have been segments of the populace in every society who, mostly out of fear, have said, “Trust our ruler. He will take care of us.”

Ask yourself: Why do government officials monitor anti-war protests and demonstrations? How likely is it that a person who is planning a terrorist attack is going to be speaking at or demonstrating at a public anti-war rally, where he knows that cops, secret agents, and cameras are all over the place? The problem is that, as their policies begin to fail, the increasingly paranoid and fearful government officials come to believe that their “enemies” include those who are exposing the lies and false realities generated by the government. In the mind of the government official, telling the truth about government policy decreases morale and empowers the enemy.

Thus, people who oppose the government’s policies and tell the truth about such policies increasingly become part of the “problem.” They become a “threat,” one that can more easily be monitored and targeted than genuine terrorists can be.

Thus, the most likely reason that the president isn’t going to the secret, rubberstamp FISA court to secure his warrants is that he and his minions know that they’re targeting Americans for whom not even the rubberstampers on the FISA court would approve a warrant. That is, they’re spying on and monitoring innocent Americans who aren’t “terrorists” but who oppose the president’s war on Iraq or his “war on terrorism” After all, since the secret FISA court rubberstamps virtually all warrant requests anyway, why else would the president not go through the motions of securing the rubberstamp?

http://www.fff.org/comment/com0602i.asp

[BOSSHOG]

1. Let's take ronald reagan's advice

Trust but VERIFY. bush just hates that verification crap.

[FSogol]

2. TRUST? Would you buy a used car from that clown? n/t

[flordehinojos]

3. trust any of the bushes?

people must be deluded, or delusional, or something.