Any Info Out There Debunking the GOP's Claim...

that RFK wiretapped MLK? And was it "unwarranted" as a James Robbins

states in his article:

I have no doubt that revelations in the New York Times that the NSA has been conducting selective and limited surveillance of terrorist communications crossing into or out of the United States will be immensely valuable to our enemies. I also have no doubt that these and similar actions can be legal, even when conducted without warrants.

How could that be? From the sound and fury of the last few days from politicians and pundits, you would think this is a development as scandalous as Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's authorization to wiretap Martin Luther King Jr. But the legality of the acts can be demonstrated with a look through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). For example, check out section 1802, "Electronic Surveillance Authorization Without Court Order." It is most instructive. There you will learn that "Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year" (emphasis mine).

Naturally, there are conditions. For example, the surveillance must be aimed at "the acquisition of the contents of communications transmitted by means of communications used exclusively between or among foreign powers." Wait, is a terrorist group considered a foreign power? Yes, as defined in section 1801, subsection (a), "foreign power" can mean "a group engaged in international terrorism or activities in preparation therefore," though the statue language would explicitly apply to "a faction of a foreign nation or nations."

more...
http://boston.craigslist.org/pol/120856042.html

now we're going back to RFK and MLK? I thought precedent has been set already!

to the current discussion of the Bush administration's illegal actions. As a retired psychiatric social worker who did a good amount of forensic work, I got used to guilty clients attempting to switch the focus of a conversation by bringing irrelevant issues to the table. The correct response is to note that it has NOTHING to do with the subject at hand.

I just threw what you said at em, until I get the scoop to debunk them.

the illegal actions of the Bush White House, it is a safe bet that RFK's actions in the early 1960s are not going to be at issue.

will have a thorough investigation? In honesty, I'm am a bit cynical about Congress these days.

that even the republicans in congress will hesitate to hold some type of hearings. I started a thread ("Bush's High Crimes") which quotes from the new edition of The Nation; it's editorial notes that republicans are distancing themselves from Bush on this. The editorial, as quoted, touches on the King business, as well as Nixon. But it will be Bush-Cheney being examined, not RFK, MLK, LBJ, Hoover or Nixon.

I read your thread just before seeing your reply. There is much I need to read to learn my history. Knowledge truly is power.

Thank you for helping my learn a little history. I always appreciate the info you share on DU.

and so did J. Edgar Hoover and JFK and LBJ.

But that is the lamest arguement I've ever heard for justifying Bush's illegal wiretapping.

1) The FISA ACT wasn't passed until 1978 - Ten years after the deaths of MLK and RFK, five years after the deaths of Hoover and LBJ, and 15 years after the death of JFK.

2) The FISA ACT was passed specifically BECAUSE of the abuses of Hoover, RFK, JFK, LBJ, and Richard Nixon.

So tell them THANKS for making your case for you.

Doug De Clue
Orlando, FL

Jesus dude.....you are talking a guy assassinated in 68 for aspiring to the office the slug occupies...are we to chase down not only democratic presidents who may have misbehaved as president and now enter into the possible democratic nominees??? And at his worst possible abuse is looking at the file of someone who later became a left wing icon???Get the point-you are looking on a left on left crime...if any-perhaps just a preemptive strike.What you see now is vast and overreaching data mining....whar I now post, they already have.

They do what they are told.