[NYTr] Letters to Editor Condemn Columbia's Bobbitt Op-Ed in NY Times Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 04:50:07 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [Once again, NY Times readers have unanimously condemned Columbia University's Philip Bobbitt, the apologist for Bush's unconstitutional domestic spying. These were all published on Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 -- a good day for their exposure. Similar reaction greeted Bobbitt's previous offerings. It's unusual for the Times to publish letters that all take the same pro- or con position, and this probably indicates that's the only sort they received. Perhaps the Times is using him as a foil. See Bobbit's August 22 Op-Ed at the link below.-NY Transfer. Columbia Law's Bobbitt Celebrates Police State in The New York Times https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070820/067026.html The New York Times - Aug 26, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/opinion/l26wiretap.html Letters to the Editor Who Will Keep an Eye on the Spies? Re bThe Warrantless Debate Over Wiretapping,b by Philip Bobbitt (Op-Ed, Aug. 22): To the Editor: Mr. Bobbitt displays a casual disregard of legitimate concerns about abuse of power by the executive branch with the passage of a new law that expands its powers of surveillance. He discounts the Fourth Amendment issues raised by critics of the law by claiming that in the past warrantless searches were upheld bwhere there is no legitimate expectation of privacy.b This implies that Americans have no legitimate expectation of privacy in their phone or electronic communications. Critics of the law are fashioned into straw men who bbelieve that there is in fact no real threat.b Recognition of the threats this country faces is not at odds with valuing our liberties and desiring cautious deliberation and vigorous oversight of the methods used to protect our country. Mr. Bobbitt argues that instead of legislating oversight, itbs best for Congress (and the country) to trust this administration with broad powers and programs that remain undefined. He says the defense-intelligence team of Robert M. Gates, Mike McConnell and Gen. Michael V. Hayden is babout as good a team as it is possible to imagine.b But he left out other team members b like President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales b who have proved themselves as untrustworthy as possible to imagine. After years of lies and fear-mongering, Ibd prefer oversight over blind trust. Gregory Wright Brooklyn, Aug. 22, 2007 b" To the Editor: Robert M. Gates, the defense secretary, Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, and Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the director of central intelligence, may be the fine people that Philip Bobbitt suggests. But why should they be permitted to operate beyond judicial scrutiny if, as we unceasingly tell ourselves, we are a nation of laws not men? Time and again, the American public discovers, after the fact, that whatever free rein it gives the intelligence agencies is abused. If the leaders of these agencies, as well as Mr. Bobbitt, understood fully the premise on which our government is based, they would welcome, not skirt, judicial oversight. Geoffrey K. James Arlington, Va., Aug. 22, 2007 b" To the Editor: The changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorize Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to wiretap phone calls, intercept e-mail messages and, arguably, search the homes of Americans without a warrant, so long as the search bconcernsb someone believed to be abroad. Philip Bobbitt compares those activities to asking people questions or installing surveillance cameras on city streets. The difference, of course, is that you can refuse to answer questions and the government is not allowed to install cameras in your home. The framers of the Constitution understood those fundamental principles, and so do the American people. Mr. Bobbitt also suggests that critics of the law question whether we face a real threat or just White House bhype.b Virtually no one argues that there is no threat, but therebs no denying that this administration has exploited it to seize law enforcement powers that no modern president has claimed before b from warrantless surveillance to the erosion of habeas corpus, the detaining of American citizens as benemy combatantsb without charge or access to counsel and even torture. The Bush power grab after 9/11 cuts at the heart of fundamental American values, and the recent Congressional stampede to expand FISA b which should be fixed as soon as Congress returns to session b has to be viewed in that light. And thatbs why we need an A.C.L.U., I imagine. Anthony D. Romero Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union New York, Aug. 22, 2007 b" To the Editor: FISA, passed during the cold war, sought to establish not only a Fourth Amendment standard for national security surveillance in the United States, but also a Fourth Amendment institution b the federal judiciary b that would oversee the use of this authority. The goal was not to restrict, prohibit or even delay necessary investigations. It was to ensure a minimal amount of accountability so that the countrybs huge surveillance powers would not be turned upon the American people. The argument for bmodernizingb FISA is much less about new technology and much more about the effort to diminish checks and balances during a period of public fear. Good people should be concerned about this. Marc Rotenberg Washington, Aug. 22, 2007 The writer is president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and teaches at Georgetown University Law Center. b" To the Editor: Most people in Congress know that bwe have about as good a team as it is possible to imagineb in charge of defense and intelligence. So why not assume that they are proposing a solution to a real problem? Given this administrationbs degree of crass politicization of the Justice and Defense Departments and disdain for constitutional law, does Philip Bobbitt really think that Congress should just sit back and be trusting? I can easily imagine a better team b one with some degree of bipartisan Congressional oversight. Steve Indvik Minneapolis, Aug. 22, 2007 * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . Subscribe: https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================