Orange Felon Can't Tell Me What to Do

Words of Advice:

DONALD TRUMP IS A CONVICTED FELON. CASE CLOSED.

"America, where we restrict access to vaccines and healthcare, but you can have all the guns you want." -- Stonekettle

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"Thou Shalt Get Sidetracked by Bullshit, Every Goddamned Time." -- The Ghoul

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

If something sounds good in your head, don't let it come out of your mouth.

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Tear Gas Tastes Like Fascism." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

Karma may sometimes be late to arrive.
But it never loses an address.

Friday, May 23, 2014

The Rubber-Stamp Court Continues Operation; NSA Edition

The morons House of Representatives removed a provision in the NSA reform bill that would have appointed a privacy advocate to the FISA Court.

So the FISA court will continue as it always has: Only the government gets to state its case.


Courts are a forum for an adversarial process. If only one side gets to put on a case, then it's more a form of legalistic masturbation. The FISA Court has a long record of being a rubber stamp, approving virtually every surveillance request the government has made since the Court was formed. They've approved something over 30,000 such requests and disapproved maybe a dozen. And no, that's not hyperbole. Over a 12 year period, they've never not approved a pen register request.

Without a "freedom for spying" advocate, then nothing from the FISA Court would ever be reviewed on appeal, because there is nobody to file an appeal. So the FISA Court gets to continue on, thinking they're doing something meaningful. When all they are doing is spreading a judicial fig-leaf over a deeply unconstitutional process.

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