DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Ex-President Carter: Eavesdropping Illegal

**aceriscoolon** · 02-09-2006, 04:57 PM

That's a good one. At what point is information too old to be valuable? For example, the Constitution is getting along in years ...

Carter is highly qualified to speak to the intent of FISA. I found his words - especially with regard to "review by the courts and Congress" - striking when compared to the reality of today, when Bush has authorized secret electronic surveillance of U.S. persons without getting a warrant and without any judicial or Congressional oversight ... exactly what FISA was designed to prevent!

I found Carter's statements to be highly revealing, informative, and applicable to today's discussions on Bush's domestic spy program.

I too found it interesting to read when President Carter wrote way back when. But one thing I found absent was any statement to the effect that the Executive branch did not have the power before enactment of the statute. Instead, he twice mentioned the desirability of intelligence agents knowing that their work was authorized not only by the Executive but also by a statute passed by Congress, thereby giving them greater confidence what they were doing was legal.

02-09-2006, 04:57 PM	#17
aceriscoolon Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 354 Senior Member	That's a good one. At what point is information too old to be valuable? For example, the Constitution is getting along in years ... Carter is highly qualified to speak to the intent of FISA. I found his words - especially with regard to "review by the courts and Congress" - striking when compared to the reality of today, when Bush has authorized secret electronic surveillance of U.S. persons without getting a warrant and without any judicial or Congressional oversight ... exactly what FISA was designed to prevent! I found Carter's statements to be highly revealing, informative, and applicable to today's discussions on Bush's domestic spy program. I too found it interesting to read when President Carter wrote way back when. But one thing I found absent was any statement to the effect that the Executive branch did not have the power before enactment of the statute. Instead, he twice mentioned the desirability of intelligence agents knowing that their work was authorized not only by the Executive but also by a statute passed by Congress, thereby giving them greater confidence what they were doing was legal.
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