WH magic show: Distract your attention from unlawful conduct by focusing on non-sense

Update: 13 Feb 2006 To see how this effort fits in with the White House disinformation strategy, visit this summary box, open in a new window to see the larger pattern and other related ruses: [ Click ]

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This reviews the NSA warrantless surveillance. The White House hopes to distract your attention from violations of the law by focusing on technology.

The White House and RNC are performing in a magic show. They do not want you to notice how the trick is done. Their goal is to get you to look somewhere else.



This blogspot shows how the RNC-White House hopes to distract your attention from the unlawful warrantless surveillance, and get you to focus on something that seems mysterious: Technology.

Don't take the bait. The mystery of technology is irrelevant -- the important issue is the law and what the President didn't do: He didn't follow the law.

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I thought I'd share with you a White House smokescreen over the NSA wiretapping. What follows is an example of how the White House hopes to divert your attention from the law to "something else".

NSA Spying: What the RNC is doing to confuse the issue

Recall, the "big problem" with this unlawful surveillance -- NSA/White House are not getting warrants, as required under the FISA statute.

But here's how the RNC is diverting attention from this -- rather than focus on the "failure to comply with FISA" . . .RNC is now focusing on the technology saying, "What was going on was perfectly reasonable -- they were using an algorithm."

Small problem: If the program/algorithm was "reasonable" -- then why didn't the NSA/White House use the fruit of that algorithm to [a] go to the FISA court; and [b] get a warrant?

The White House avoids this issue saying, "We were lawful." Yet, how can a "lawful program" be justified when it ignores the FISA court?

Recall, the issue isn't whether surveillance can or cannot occur -- it can, so long as there is warrant.

In this case, rather than focus on the "lack of warrant as required under FISA" the White House and RNC are focusing on the reasonableness of surveillance by focusing on the algorithm. If there was an "appropriate method" then the FISA court would have approved the warrant.

However, the issue isn't whether there was or wasn't a proper algorithm . . .but why despite a "proper algorithm" the White House didn't bother to follow the FISA court rules?

Again, the White House has no answer.

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Sample

Consider this link:
http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/1181

Here is a sample discussion on this algorithm argument. Remember, the RNC is changing the subject from [a] whether they did/didn't have a warrant; to something else -- [b] whether it is appropriate to surveil; or [c] whether the algorithm did or didn't achieve a desired outcome.

They are ignoring the following legal requirements:
[a] Warrant: There was no warrant;
[b] Warrantless surveillance: Despite no warrant they engaged n the surveillance; and
[c] Statutes: The FISA rules requiring a warrant at least within 15 days.

The President violated the law. To distract your attention -- and hopefully avoid accountability -- he does the following:

[1] He admits the unlawful program continues;
[2] He says he will continue the monitoring without surveillance warrants; and that
[3] His actions show he will not pay attention to the FISA court.

As a friendly reminder, it does not matter what the technology can or cannot do; it does matter [a] what the law requires and [b] whether the President and NSA complied with the statutes.

The NSA and White House are using an existing technological capability without regard to the rule of law and clearly promulgated statutes. An act of congress is the will of the people -- today, one cannot take a poll to conclude "It is OK to do this."

It is not OK to ignore the statues; nor is it OK to use a capability that the court, by refusing to grant a warrant, has not approved to be used -- no matter how "neat" or "sophisticated" that technology might be.

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We are a nation of separated powers -- the judicial branch has the power to review the legality of the executive branch issues. In this case -- whether the White House likes it or not -- the court refused to issue warrants.

Once the FISA court refused the warrants, the President and NSA should have stopped what it was doing. The surveillance should have stopped.

However, the White House and NSA did not like the FISA court answer -- so they ignored the court, and did it anyway.

This is a violation of the separation of powers -- and the President and NSA have engaged in warrantless surveillance despite being denied warrants.

Rather than self-regulate and self-monitor, the President has violated the law, and then to justify continuing violating the law -- he no longer goes to the FISA court so that he [a] doesn't get an answer he doesn't like and [b] continue doing what the law does not permit -- warrantless surveillance/conduct which violates the FISA statutes.

Summary

The above link is merely a sample of the latest nonsense from the RNC and White House to change the subject.

Stay focused on the real problem: Warrants and the FISA statute. It doesn't matter how "neat" or "reasonable" the technology might be. The President's problem is that he violated FISA, knew about it, admitted it, and refused to get warrants as required.

Their goal is to change the subject from the law to something else. Stay focused on FISA and the warrants.