When freepers were appalled at the secret FISA court

[quaoar]

Glenn Greenwald at http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/ takes a trip down Right-Wing Memory Lane with this Freeper thread from November 2000. It shows how appalled they were that there was this secret court that was approving secret search warrants and how much potential there was for abuse.

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a27337612f5.htm

The thread starts with an article that concludes with this observation:

This recent strengthening of the FISA court fits comfortably in the pattern established in the late 1970s after the massive FBI crime spree against political activists. When the illegalities were documented by the Senate's Church Committee instead of stepping in and stopping political policing activities by DoJ and intelligence agencies Congress took exactly the opposite approach. It waved a flag over a pattern government activities that had been criminal, draped it in authoritative language, and magically made it all legal. Since that time, through a series of laws and executive orders, policy-makers have further chipped away at freedoms previously presumed to be sacred.

And then there are the comments from freepers:

Franz Kafka would have judged this to wild to fictionalize. But for us - it's real.

...

Any chance of Bush rolling some of this back? It sounds amazing on its face. Why didn't Wen Ho Lee just "disappear" into one of these Star Chambers, never to return?

...

As quietly as possible (although it sometimes breaks out into the open, usually with the sound of gunfire and the death of innocents), a "shadow government" has been set up all around us my friend. It's foundation is not the constitution, but Executive Orders, Presidential Procalamations, Secret Acts, and Emergency Powers.

...

This is one of those ideas that has a valid purpose behind it, but is wide open to terrible abuse. And there's no way to check to see if it is abused. Like all things that don't have the light of day shining on them, you can be sure that it is being twisted to suit the purposes of those who hold the power.

Etc. etc.

[Mythsaje]

1. Only goes to prove

that they don't mind any of it as long as it's own of "their own" who's doing it. Truly disturbing.

Now, apparently, FISA isn't good enough. And they're okay with it. Hypocrites.

[magellan]

2. Hypocrisy, thy name is Freeperland

[boobooday]

3. Flip-flopping -- it's their form of exercise

Watching them on the recent port deal has been very interesting.

The brave souls who said screw France, screw Germany, and Russia, and every other ally who opposed the Iraq debacle now squeal about how dare we "offend an ally" by refusing to sell the port operations to Dubai.

[sam sarrha]

4. with all the Bat Shit Crazy crap they got to hide.. no wonder

[gratuitous]

5. This is what happens when you don't have principles, only politics

For Freepers and their party, the Elephant always flies above the Eagle. Party always trumps the public good: Deficit spending, bankrupt Treasury, suppression of rights, domestic spying, warrantless searches, "First Amendment zones", mocking Purple Hearts, and on and on.

[quaoar]

6. If Bush came out and opposed tax cuts

and said he was pro-choice, they would all march into line and declare the evils of tax cuts and the denial of basic rights to women.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. It's herd mentality. They listen to the spin for a few days and see

what Rush has to say about it. Then, lo and behold, that's what they thought all along and they are so happy that Bush sees it their way. It was those evil liberals and the liberal media that sowed those seeds of doubt in their minds.

If any of you visited the Freepers while the ports was going on that's what you saw happening.