As J. Edgar knew: domestic spying is also about blackmail

Now we learn that Bush secretly authorized domestic spying of civilians without a warrant. As usual, we wait for the public to rise up as one and demand his ouster. But, as usual, there's a problem -- and we have to fix it.

Pretty much all of us here know that grinding the Fourth Amendment into a fine powder this way is unconstitutional -- and seemingly impeachable. But to the average apolitical American ("A3"), that conclusion may not be immediately obvious. After all, they might reason, isn't the President's first duty to protect Americans? And couldn't this help? Here's a way to get through to them the enormity of what's going on here: the President's order allows the government to blackmail its domestic enemies. More across the fence:
(snip)

And, in fact, we have no basis to conclude that it hasn't been done since this started in 2002. When we wonder about a quiescent and compliance press corps, watchdogs that sit around scratching fleas, and the like, this becomes a one-stop shopping site to look for possible answers as to why.


(more)
<http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/16/181252/36>

This needs to be discussed. It's a point that has been missed so far in the domestic spying scandal.

to him. Another nail in the admin's coffin; why oh why aren't they 6 foot under already?

Because the "Liberal" media keeps filling in the hole before they are buried.

That evesdropping from orbit stuff doesn't just apply to the rabble. You gotta know the NSA and a half-dozen intel agencies -- US and foreign -- have the complete box set of White House recordings. BushCo, The 1600 Sessions (2001-2005).

Wonder how many sets of tapes are circulating?

eavesdropped on? How much of what they heard is responsible for the milquetoast media and the compliance of congress with Bush's agenda?

They are cooperative agents of influence. Mostly, there's self-censorship and cooptation, just like the media in the old Soviet Bloc countries. The really uncooperative and potentially damaging journalists -- e.g., Gary Webb -- are destroyed.

I thought that too, but in reading the oath of office, that isn't mentioned anywhere.-
Not that i could find.