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McConnell: That's Right, Openness Kills Americans
Last month, in an interview with the El Paso Times, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said that openly debating changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- changes requested by none other than McConnell himself -- would mean that "some Americans are going to die." At first it seemed like an unfortunate bit of demagoguery. At a hearing today of the House intelligence committee, though, McConnell again anticipated bodies piling up in the streets as the direct consequence of discussing the McConnell's favored revisions to FISA. From Reuters:
He said debate over the programs was important to ensure authorities had proper tools to fight suspected terrorists, but that the open discussion would also help U.S. enemies."What this dialogue and debate has allowed those who wish us harm to do, is to understand significantly more about how we were targeting their communications," McConnell told the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
Asked if debates had cost U.S lives, he said, "They will."
Or as he also put it: "The intelligence business is conducted in secret. It's conducted in secret for a reason."
Why not just declare the 20 committee members enemy combatants and be done with it?
Can someone come up with a more politicized intel head than McConnell? Unfortunately, the Dems don't have the stones to stand up to him or Bush to bring some form of judicial review over the program, which is all most reasonable citizens ask.
September 20, 2007 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
...Why not just declare the 20 committee members enemy combatants and be done with it?...
Please. Don't. Encourage. Them.
September 20, 2007 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, that must mean the Constitution is a suicide pact after all! Who knew?
September 20, 2007 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Big Brother knows what's best, and must be allowed to spy on whomever He pleases in a completely unfettered and secret manner. Otherwise, people will die because Big Brother won't be able to protect them..."
September 20, 2007 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a measure condemning MoveOn.org for a newspaper ad it ran last week attacking Gen. David Petraeus.
Independently, Dee Illuminati 'passed gas' at the entire Petraeus 'debate', the for-gone conclusions it generated, the non-impact on internal public consumption and opinion on the matter, and the detrimental blowback that it has created.
I was more amused with the news that Britney wasn't wearing panties, that a disney character had posed nude, and that the good Senator did not flush.
Yawn~
September 20, 2007 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sick of these cowards. Since when have true Americans been afraid to die for freedom?
McConnell and the cowards who support him don't deserve US citizenship.
Live free or die!
September 20, 2007 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
And so our republic is flushed away. John Wayne did a record about republic, he spoke to the music, did not sing. As I recall he was highly in favor of mem being free, and he was no socialist weenie. Never hear about this from the tighty-righties. How convenient!
September 20, 2007 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have the record. It's called "America, Why I Love Her."
September 20, 2007 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
So basically we must give up our way of life to protect it. /meh
The whole point is to stand on our principles of democracy, and 'still' protect it, knowing it's the harder path, but the RIGHT path. If we are gonna be using any means necessary, we are no different than the terrorists. America has lost it's whole moral high ground all the while yelling and screaming about "family values" and "christian morals".
This last 7 years, those power-hungry jerks have slashed at the very fiber of the Constitution in some ill-conceaved notion of 'protecting it'. (or at least that's the disguise they put on it)
I swear it's almost like watching V-vendetta when I'm watching news about our president and his followers. And people wonder why so many around the world hate us, another large portion simplye "use" us, and all parties involved just think we're a joke about to collapse.
September 20, 2007 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm watching McConnell deliver his opening remarks to the House Intelligence Committee on C-SPAN. The essence of his comments is that because some words might be interpreted to limit the authority of the intelligence community to gather whatever it wants from whoever it wants, the words should be eliminated. Blank check. This is just the kind of insular power for the executive that Madison warned against in the Federalist Papers. Madison understood that absolute executive power, unchecked by Congress or the Courts, even the FISA court, is tyranny. Yet that is what this Administration is doing. Yes, we face dangers. We always have. This does not justify the unitary executive branch to operate without checks. Shame.
September 20, 2007 10:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: JamesOtis --- I couldn't have said it better myself. thanks
September 20, 2007 10:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah. If we'd only STFU! the killing would stop. Whose got our back?
September 20, 2007 11:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
The point that needs to be made in response to statements like McConnell's is that the terrorists already know everything that's being forced into the "open" by this debate.
All the information he's afraid of revealing? It can be ascertained by some internet sleuthing that's basic stuff to skilled hackers (and yes, they have more than a few of those working with them). The stuff that can't be gotten that way can be social-engineered with ease.
So none of this "secret" stuff is really secret, in any sense that has meaning to the "enemy."
September 21, 2007 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink