U.S.: FBI Sought Info Without Court OK.

Source: MyWay

In a move that would have made McCarthy proud, the FBI decided to play the Bush anti-terror card and snoop on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval.

Hello 1984, and goodbye decency and respect for individuals' rights and freedoms.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval, the Justice Department said Friday.

It was the first time the Bush administration has publicly disclosed how often it uses the administrative subpoena known as a national security letter, which allows the executive branch of government to obtain records about people in terrorism and espionage investigations without court approval.

Friday's disclosure was mandated as part of the renewal of the Patriot Act, the administration's sweeping anti-terror law.

The FBI delivered a total of 9,254 NSLs relating to 3,501 people in 2005, according to a report submitted late Friday to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. In some cases, the bureau demanded information about one person from several companies.

A few things bother me about this.

The president again is failing to do his sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. Before he swore his "war on terror" or even better--the "war on terra" or the environment, he swore the oath of office to do everything in his power to uphold the sacred document and the powers given by it.

He must have had his fingers crossed behind his back or been in a drunken stupor because he seems to forget the most important presidential obligation.

The other is Congress' failure to police government organizations, and the intelligence community who does its job without checks and balances.

Yes, I understand the need for data mining and analysts, looking for that next great threat to our nation's security. However, I do not understand this ideology that the law doesn't apply to them, and that they can do as they please.

I understand this filters down through political appointees who believe in the same ideas their boss does. Bush believes he's above the law, so his appointees running the intelligence community will sing the same tune.

This is where our Supreme Court and Congress have both equally failed us. The both of them have given the administration a blank check to do as they please, and they often look the other way in the name of politics when a blatant crime has been committed.

What good are both bodies when they fail, like the president, to do their respective jobs? To uphold both the spirit of the law and punish those who have such high disregard for it?

Our system is a failed and broken one, and only with a quick and stern change of direction, will I ever see us, as a country, getting back on track.

Tags: [FBI], [FBI secretly sought information without court approval], [FBI searches through residents' banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without court approval], [Bush administration], [national security letter], [administrative subpoena], [Patriot Act], [9,254 NSLs], [Justice Department], [Congress]