Bush secretly authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on Americans

NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?ei=5009&en=83d96fdd41798785&ex=1135314000&adxnnl=1&partner=MSN_NYTHOME&adxnnlx=1134709692-8rQX7HuR/3YCHjO7TxBx8w

Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts

By JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: December 16, 2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.

Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.

The previously undisclosed decision to permit some eavesdropping inside the country without court approval was a major shift in American intelligence-gathering practices, particularly for the National Security Agency, whose mission is to spy on communications abroad. As a result, some officials familiar with the continuing operation have questioned whether the surveillance has stretched, if not crossed, constitutional limits on legal searches.

"This is really a sea change," said a former senior official who specializes in national security law. "It's almost a mainstay of this country that the N.S.A. only does foreign searches."

So how long has this information been there?

And how far reaching has the spying been?

How much of our taxpayer dollars have been going to spying on American citizens who disagree with the Bush Administration?

what else do they have?

I'm very anti-DP, but with the Bush Admin, if they are found guilty, I would favor the penalty.

I can't WAIT to vote these dickheads out of office. What fucking gall, what arrogance to think that they're above the law, somehow. How do you know they've not been syping on you? What the FUCK?

This all brought to you....by the 'small governemnt' crowd.

but can't recall where. Probably one of the "conspiracy theory" sites. I specifically remember that it was done by executive order, though. I guess sometimes Real News is just a conspiracy theory - a few months late.

We have truly lost our minds in this country.
Domestic spying, and the story held by the NYT for a
year, plus the 698 miles of fence along
the Mexican border (will we have to hire illegals to build
the fucking and useless thing???) and even discussing
Christmas as a resolution on the House floor yesterday.
These people at the least are fruitcakes and at best
dangerous to this democracy.

Have I told you lately I am really fed up.

lets start a club. on second thought we're already in one, DU!!

When I woke up to this story today, I wrote a cartoon, and we got it done by noon. It will go up in 26 hours and be our lead cartoon for the week.

I can hardly wait to hear the real details. You know it's going to get bad. Why wouldn't he have Fitz' offices monitored?