I always knew Clinton wished he was Hitler!

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Clinton Plays Dictator

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Thank goodness for cut and paste, since the wingnuts love this false point so much that it is popping up in multiple threads.

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From Drudge Report and links below to sources:


Bill Clinton Signed Executive Order that allowed Attorney General to do searches without court approval

Clinton, February 9, 1995: "The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order"

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Let's see what the order actually says, shall we?

[ QUOTE ]
Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) of the Act, the
Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section.

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That certification is one that the search "is solely directed at premises, information, material, or property used exclusively by, or under the open and exclusive control of, a foreign power or powers".

In other words, these are FOREIGN searches, and routine compliance with FISA by Clinton, rather than the "we're-at-war-so-the-law-is-what-I-say-it-is" lawlessness of the Bush administration.

Indeed, the different attitudes of the administrations are readily apparent. Let's go to Gorelick's actual testimony and see what our right-wing friends have left out, shall we?

"Second, the Administration and the Attorney General support, in principle, legislation establishing judicial warrant procedures under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for physical searches undertaken for intelligence purposes. However, whether specific
legislation on this subject is desirable for the practical benefits it might add to intelligence collection, or undesirable as too much of a restriction on the President's authority to collect intelligence necessary for the national security, depends on how the legislation is crafted."

...

"As I stated earlier, we believe that existing directives that regulate the basis for seeking foreign intelligence search authority and the procedures to be followed satisfy all Constitutional requirements. Nevertheless, I reiterate the Administration's willingness to support appropriate legislation that does not restrict the President's ability to collect foreign intelligence necessary for the national security. We need to strike a balance that sacrifices neither our security nor our civil liberties.

If we can achieve such a balance -- and I believe we can if we use the basic provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- we can accomplish a number of things. First, we will reaffirm our commitment to democratic control of intelligence functions. Second, by mirroring the FISA process including the involvement a neutral judicial official, we will remove any doubt from the minds of reasonable persons concerning the legality of these searches. And finally, we will also provide additional assurances to the patriotic individuals who serve this country in intelligence positions that their activities are proper and necessary."

Soooooo, let's recap. The Clinton administration supported bringing physical searches under the FISA umbrella, and when Congress did so the Clinton administration complied with the law. The Bush administration acknowledges that the law prohibits what it is doing but claims that it has the authority to unilaterally nullify any law that it dosen't like, secretly, because we are at "war". [howie mandel]Equivilant, or not equivalent?[/howie mandel]

[canis582]

Who said anything about hitler? WTF are you talking about?

Clinton never turned the United States spying aparatus against his own citizenry. Neither did Clinton.

Clinton never turned the spying aparatus against his own citizenry. What King George is doing is UNPRECEDENTED and ILLEGAL. Try to get that through your Hitler-loving brain.

Drudge has no credibility. He provides a cheat sheet of lies and misrepresentations for the right wing radio hosts.

[Beer and Pizza]

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Clinton never turned the United States spying aparatus against his own citizenry.

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Niether has Bush. He is going against terrorists. Maybe you overlooked that bit. Maybe you overlooked that there is a War agaonst Terror going on. You are so engrossed in the politics of attacking Bush, you overlook these things.

[Exsubmariner]

I seem to remember something about Clinton getting FBI files on his political opponents. That is the Law enforcement apparatus, though, not intelligence gathering. Maybe my little unnuanced mind can't see the differences.

[Beer and Pizza]

[ QUOTE ]
I seem to remember something about Clinton getting FBI files on his political opponents. That is the Law enforcement apparatus, though, not intelligence gathering. Maybe my little unnuanced mind can't see the differences.

[/ QUOTE ]

One big difference is that Clinton was going after his political opponents, while Bush is going after terrorists that want to kill Americans.

What a HUGE difference in motivation.

[cdxx]

[ QUOTE ]
I seem to remember something about Clinton getting FBI files on his political opponents. That is the Law enforcement apparatus, though, not intelligence gathering. Maybe my little unnuanced mind can't see the differences.

[/ QUOTE ]

clinton was rumored to have used his executive privilege to gain access to fbi files for political gain, but in reality they were routine background checks on all white house personnel and visitors. the right-wing press story that clinton got those on his opponents was an exercise in muddying the waters. it's pretty well documented. in fact, it was not the president who got blamed for it. it was the first lady who was claimed to be getting it through the president in preparation for her senate run.

[canis582]

The war on terror is not an excuse to trash the constitution.

[Exsubmariner]

Electing a Clinton to the White House isn't a reason, either.

[Exsubmariner]

I absolutely love this retort. Let me see how it goes:

First, somebody else posted it before me. OK

Second, I can't read. Since I obviously can't read I obvously can't understand what the words on the pretty computer screen say. I hope Elliot will tell what they mean and he comes through.

Let's see - what Clinton authorized was wiretapping on US soil without a court order, but not really. It doesn't count because of the way the words are arranged in the executive order. OK. I follow that so far. And oh, don't forget Clinton supported having legislation enacted which would give him the power to conduct domestic survellance without the court, too. So all that makes it even more OK.

It gets even better. There are quoted paragraphs where the Clinton Administration states it's oh-so-good intentions to use the power vested in it and keep happy-happy feelings between all branches of Government while it uses that power.

I suddenly remember Orwell for some reason. "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."
"Four legs good, two legs bad."

Look, we are are war here folks, the only thing stopping the terraists from killing half of us and converting the other half to Islam is GWB.

If it weren't for our Dear Leader, there would be a mushroom cloud over every american city. If it werent for King George, Saddam would be working out of the Oval Office.