Can't Touch This
Why did the NSA classify 'public' report on wiretaps?

Newsweek Web Exclusive-- by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball

When Congress passed a landmark electronic-spying bill last summer, the measure included a key provision that ordered the inspectors general of U.S. intelligence agencies to produce the first-ever public report on President Bush's warrantless-surveillance program.

The American Civil Liberties Union demanded information from the government about reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control" – matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities. This deployment jeopardizes the longstanding separation between civilian and military government, and the public has a right to know where and why the unit has been deployed.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/37272lgl20081021.html

The Constitutional Alliance is a coalition of state lawmakers, national grassroots organizations, and citizens who oppose The Real ID Act of 2005 and favor ID solutions that protect Americans.

Help open America’s eyes to REAL ID so She can see what’s going on behind Her back!

National media are ignoring the dangers of international & domestic linked data banks and the use of biometrics.

Your personal privacy and liberty are at stake!

Your participation is critical to success of this effort. We need your help this week.

It’s amazing what you can find if you turn over a few rocks in the anti-terrorism legislation Congress approved during the election season.

Take, for example, the John W. Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2006, named for the longtime Armed Services Committee chairman from Virginia.

Signed by President Bush on Oct. 17, the law (PL 109-364) has a provocative provision called “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.”

The thrust of it seems to be about giving the federal government a far stronger hand in coordinating responses to Katrina-like disasters.

Liberty Coalition members:

Is the government looking for terrorists in Americans’ electronic medical records?

Admittedly, it’s an astonishing question, but for many months, this year and last, Congress was roiled in a contentious debate over the legality of a government electronic surveillance program in which, allegedly, the fiber-optic backbone of our nation’s telecommunications system was tapped as part of the war on terror.

From our friends at DownsizeDC:

My second thought was that the Constitution gives Congress no authority over public safety, except on federal property. This power is left to the states.

by Declan McCullagh

The U.S. Senate is investigating allegations by two National Security Agency whistleblowers who have described widespread monitoring of innocuous telephone conversations by the Bush administration's clandestine program.

"Constitutional Peril" Book Discussion with Bruce Fein Wednesday the 15th in DC (RSVP)

You are cordially invited to:

A special discussion with Bruce Fein, author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy
St. Martin's Press, 2008).