Why Facism Grows, It's painless -- at least for a while.

Although many pundits and progressives have been blowing a blood-vessel over the NSA-Spying scandal and the President's claim of plenary powers which allow him to completely disregard Congress and the Law - this issue has yet to penetrate to the "heartland" and generate much general outrage by the general public.

An ABC News/Washington Post Poll from Jan 8th asked:

"Would you consider this wiretapping of telephone calls and e-mails without court approval as an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism?"

Answers - Acceptable (51%), Not Acceptable (47%), Unsure (2%)

The issue to me seems to be a matter of self-interest.

President Bush has managed to deflect much of this issue by claiming that "If al-Qaeda calls you, we want to know why". I think most people would agree with that and so far are willing let the rules slides if they receive a personal benefit from it (ie. they don't get hit by a WMD or Terrorist Attack).

It has yet to really hit the media that this wiretap information just might not be as limited as the President claims.

One NSA Whistleblower on ABCNews last night claimed that these NSA programs have the potential to affect Millions of Americans. This seems somewhat unlikely, but it has to mentioned that the potential danger here isn't limited by technology, only by our governments willingness to abuse that technology in secret.

There is growing concern that illegal taps could create a avalanche of poison fruit cases, which could lead to the release of dozens, if not hundreds of terrorist suspects currently in custody.

In the case of the Administration having the NSA do domestic spying without first getting warrants as required by FISA, the question becomes whether or not a particular defendant was identified via an illegal wiretap. If that is the case, then any subsequent surveillance of that defendant could be declared tainted as "fruit of the poisonous tree" by the Federal courts. Any investigative work that stems from an illegal warrantless surveillance can be tainted.

And lastly there is the issue that this (illegally gathered) NSA information is being widely shared with the Pentagon and FBI who in turn just may be using it to spy on Greenpeace, Peta, Anti-War Protestors, and Gays.

Walter Pincus in the Washington Post Writes

Information captured by the National Security Agency's secret eavesdropping on communications between the United States and overseas has been passed on to other government agencies, which cross-check the information with tips and information collected in other databases, current and former administration officials said.

The NSA has turned such information over to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and to other government entities, said three current and former senior administration officials, although it could not be determined which agencies received what types of information. Information from intercepts -- which typically includes records of telephone or e-mail communications -- would be made available by request to agencies that are allowed to have it, including the FBI, DIA, CIA and Department of Homeland Security, one former official said.

It's sad to that most people aren't going to wake up to the danger this situation presents until it bites them personally in the ass.

At which point, of course, it will already be far too late.

We did have a brief moment following the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina where many people realized the danger of Governmental incompetence and malfeasance - but it seems that moment has passed.

Vyan