[Vision2020] [Spam] Re: Bush Claims Right to Open Private Mail

[lfalen]

The indiscriminate opening of people mail  is wrong and shade of Orwell's "1984". There needs to be probable cause in order to snoop.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: Paul Rumelhart godshatter at yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 09:27:43 -0800
To: Vision 2020 vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Spam] Re: [Vision2020] Bush Claims Right to Open Private Mail

> Signing statements need to be outlawed.  The arrogance of this procedure 
> (and I'm aware it's not just our current President who has abused this) 
> is extreme.
> 
> We have to find some way, as a people, to get back the many civil rights 
> that we have lost over the last decade or so.  I don't know how to do 
> it, but I know it needs to be done.
> 
> My only hope is that this particular event will spur people to work on 
> simple encryption solutions for email.  I've used GPG (Gnu Privacy 
> Guard, I think).  The only problem is that everyone has to get on board 
> for it to work well.  Before anyone jumps on me with the old "if you're 
> not doing anything wrong, there is no need to hide" line - it's abuse of 
> this procedure by ordinary humans that worries me.  Corporations buying 
> info on competitors, people in charge reading every email they can find 
> with no restrictions, or the government keeping tabs on people who have 
> done absolutely nothing wrong but who are swapping emails that express 
> opinions that disagree with the government on some level.
> 
> Paul
> 
> Tom Hansen wrote:
> 
> >>From today's (January 4, 2007) Spokesman Review -
> >
> >-----------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Bush claims right to open private mail 
> >James Gordon Meek 
> >New York Daily News
> >January 4, 2007
> >
> >WASHINGTON - President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open
> >Americans' mail without a judge's warrant.
> >
> >The president asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill
> >into law Dec. 20. Bush then issued a "signing statement" that declared his
> >right to open people's mail under emergency conditions.
> >
> >That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just
> >signed, say experts who have reviewed it.
> >
> >Bush's move came during the winter congressional recess and a year after his
> >secret domestic electronic eavesdropping program was revealed. It caught
> >Capitol Hill by surprise.
> >
> >"Despite the president's statement that he may be able to circumvent a basic
> >privacy protection, the new postal law continues to prohibit the government
> >from snooping into people's mail without a warrant," said Rep. Henry Waxman,
> >D-Calif., the incoming House Government Reform Committee chairman, who
> >co-sponsored the bill.
> >
> >Experts said the new powers could be easily abused and used to vacuum up
> >large amounts of mail.
> >
> >"The (Bush) signing statement claims authority to open domestic mail without
> >a warrant, and that would be new and quite alarming," said Kate Martin,
> >director of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington.
> >
> >A top Senate Intelligence Committee aide promised, "It's something we're
> >going to look into."
> >
> >Most of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act deals with mundane
> >reform measures. But it also explicitly reinforced protections of
> >first-class mail from searches without a court's approval.
> >
> >Yet in his statement Bush said he will "construe" an exception, "which
> >provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against
> >inspection in a manner consistent ... with the need to conduct searches in
> >exigent circumstances."
> >
> >White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore denied Bush was claiming any new
> >authority.
> >
> >"In certain circumstances - such as with the proverbial 'ticking bomb' - the
> >Constitution does not require warrants for reasonable searches," she said.
> >
> >-----------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Seeya round town, Moscow.
> >
> >Tom Hansen
> >Moscow, Idaho
> >
> >********************************************
> >
> >"In America, anybody can become president.  
> >That's one of the risks you take . . ."
> >
> >- Adlai Stevenson
> >
> >********************************************
> >
> >
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> >  
> >
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