Monday, March 2, 2009

Out of Control




For those who were wondering just how close we were to some Orwellian nightmare in the past eight years, here's a glimpse. On Monday, the Justice Department released a long-secret legal document from 2001. Co-written by former Deputy Attorney General John Yoo, the memo claimed the military could search and seize terror suspects in the United States without warrants, attack domestic apartment and office buildings, deploy a high-tech surveillance system against citizens and, if need be, suspend First Amendment rights of freedom-of-the-press.

Though these acts were never put into affect, they reveal the radical mindstate that dominated those in charge of legal enforcement for the past eight years. As one commentator put it after viewing the documents, "we were an inch away from martial law."

More below the fold.


Extraordinary Measures
A new memo shows just how far the Bush administration considered going in fighting the war on terror.
By Michael Isikoff | Newsweek Web Exclusive

http://www.newsweek.com/id/187342

Experts Weigh In On Bush Justice Memos
By Zachary Roth - March 3, 2009, 11:53AM

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/experts_weigh_in_on_bush_justice_memos.php

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