The Benefits of Spying On Your Friends

(The post title is spun-off a song title by The Apples in Stereo).

The neocons spied on Americans, and it should come as no surprise that spying was as politically motivated as it was motivated by security interests.

From today's NYTimes::

One F.B.I. document indicates that agents in Indianapolis planned to conduct surveillance as part of a "Vegan Community Project." Another document talks of the Catholic Workers group's "semi-communistic ideology." A third indicates the bureau's interest in determining the location of a protest over llama fur planned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Does those sound like national security considerations or more like J. Edgar Hoover's paranoid delusions ("he brought true passion to catering to the paranoias that fester beside the Potomac")?

God bless the GOP for protecting us from the hellacious agenda of gay, vegan pet-owners.

FISA warrants are not hard to obtain; they're almost always granted (what's FISA?). One talk radio caller said only about 19 out of several thousand have been turned down. An acquaintance suggested that the reason for circumventing FISA is to spy on thousands of people (i.e. a fishing expedition) instead of certain targets.

If that is true, then Bush's NSA directive is political espionage; a tech version of the Watergate break-in.

UPDATE: The Pentagon spied on Quakers in Akron. QUAKERS!! Are you f*cking kidding me? The entire world wants our ass in a bag and the neocons are chasing people who'd rather not step on bugs. Bloody great.