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SuperAngels

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  1. Podsednik out six weeks after surgery 01/23/2007 4:41 PM ET By Scott Merkin / MLB.com CHICAGO -- The White Sox outfield just might feature a very different look at the start of the 2007 season. Scott Podsednik, the team's left fielder and leadoff hitter brought back during the current offseason on a one-year, $2.9 million deal, will be out of action for the next six weeks after undergoing groin surgery on Tuesday. The problem stemmed from an injury four years ago with Milwaukee and not the groin injuries plaguing him the last two seasons. In order to help compensate for Podsednik's loss, while adding another productive bat to the outfield mix, MLB.com has learned Darin Erstad will be joining the White Sox on a one-year deal with an option for the 2008 season. The deal is pending a physical later in the week, but if all goes as planned, Erstad should be part of the team by SoxFest this weekend. Erstad will compete with Brian Anderson for starting time in center field if Podsednik returns healthy during Spring Training and is ready to go for the start of the regular season. Rookie outfielders Ryan Sweeney and Jerry Owens also could figure into the overall mix, depending on Podsednik's recovery period. Tuesday's move basically leaves White Sox position battles for the fifth starter and the final bullpen spot to be hashed out in Tucson. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
  2. Heads up for those of you who may be regular Home Depot customers. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you. Here's how the scam works: Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the boot. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say "No" and instead ask you for a ride to another Home Depot or Lowe's. You agree and they get in the back seat. On the way, they start having sex with each other. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and performs oral sex on you, while the other one steals your wallet. I had my wallet stolen November 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th. Also December 1st, 3rd, twice on the 6th, three times just yesterday and very likely again this upcoming weekend. So be careful..
  3. Anyways, back on topic, the woman getting the ticket sucks. I personally think she'll get off. Edit: I've decided I no longer care about this issue. My thinking has changed. The police aren't there to be liked. As long as they're doing their jobs, which I personally think they "mostly" are, I'm fine with other people thinking they're crooked, etc. Good! :thumbup
  4. It's too early for me to get behind and support any candidate.
  5. and if my experiences are not the norm, then why does such a large portion of the population feel the way I do?! I don't think they do. You haven't used statistics. You've used the internet and what others like you think. That's not scientific and that's not numbers. Of course kids pretend to hate the cops. It's non-conformist and cool. I'm not saying you're entirely wrong. But that "I hate cops" attitude, frankly, sucks. Because no matter how much you hate them, distrust them, whatever, they're the first person you call when your house gets robbed, etc. So, how many people have a good rescued by the police people story to relate? Most people's encounters with the police are completely negative. Sure when I get robbed, I notify the police but it's not for hope of being rescued and getting my property back. It's for insurance, tax deductions, documentation and paper trail reasons. And sometimes the police will not file a theft report, or try to influence you not to file a theft report. The police have their own agenda and it does not help their political image if crime statistics rise in the community. I completely encourage everybody to be cautious in dealing with the police as they have a gun and authority to detain you if neccesary. Just common sense......... :hat :hat
  6. However, I guess, by your rationale, because I think YOU'RE an idiot, it means ALL Angels fans are. Guess that's sound logic. By your logic, I would believe everybody from Columbus, Ohio is an IDIOT just because you're one. (As I never said all cops are liars, I say "now" most cops are liars)........... I've got a right to my opinion, regardless of your thoughts, fabrications and posts. And actually I don't think everybody from Columbus, Ohio is an IDIOT. One of the current Angels radio play by play men is from Columbus, Ohio. His name is Terry Smith, he used to do the play by play for the Yankees AAA club over there. When Terry Smith first started with Angels, he was very "stiff" sounding on the air. But now he has injected more personality in his routine. Terry Smith is really a hard worker as he does part of the pre-game show, the post game show and attends all Angels functions.
  7. "I hate cops because a story related to me by some friend and one negative cop story." Please. Without cops you have anarchy. If you don't understand how this works, I suggest reading some Hobbes and learning about egoism and the state of nature. You know, I support police. If anything, I hate ignorant people. The question is, are you against local law enforcement, or this lady getting a ticket? The articles contain a story about an unfortunate incident involving one senior citizel and is not an indictment of all police officers. Also, the cop's "story" is usually well-documented on the ticket and on video camera's in the police officer's own automobile, etc. They have checks. If anything the police want people to trust them. It's not like they're a bunch of random vigilantes out to get their kicks busting innocent people. So the question is how much do you hate yourself? LOL The LAPD do not have video cameras in their patrol cars, I wish they did......... And the cop in question was on a motorcycle, (please learn to read). Further I stated: Sure cops have a job to do but they often lose their cool and sadly this appears to be the case. I only posted one story that I personally know, I have many stories about cops and can research the internet for many more. I don't hate cops as they reflect and are from the general populace which is not saying much.
  8. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ma...-home-headlines From the Los Angeles Times She Has World at Her Not-So-Fleet Feet The LAPD is under fire here and abroad for ticketing an elderly woman when she failed to make it across a street before the signal turned. By Amanda Covarrubias and Cynthia H. Cho Times Staff Writers April 14, 2006 First, 82-year-old Mayvis Coyle got fined. Then she got famous. She got a $114 jaywalking ticket and now people the world over know her story about why she thinks the motorcycle cop did her wrong. Editorial writers from Sacramento to Scotland have rushed to Coyle's defense. Strangers in distant lands are rising to support her. Camera crews show up at her Sunland trailer unannounced, wanting Coyle to repeat the story once again. And she doesn't even have a phone. As Coyle tells it, she was doing her best to shuffle across Foothill Boulevard, with her cane in one hand, groceries in the other, when the light changed from "Walk" to "Don't Walk". Enter an LAPD motorcycle officer, who gave her the ticket, which she is challenging in court. Her case has become more than just a traffic dispute; to her supporters, it's about the rights of senior citizens and pedestrians everywhere. "STICK YOUR FINE," Scotland's Glasgow Daily Record said. The San Fernando Police Department got so many calls and e-mails from people angry about the ticket, it sent out a news release saying the Los Angeles Police Department, not the San Fernando cops, gave Coyle the citation. Sitting outside her trailer Thursday, Coyle said she was stunned by the turn of events. "This is the first ticket I ever got in my life for trying to cross the street," Coyle said. "I always try to obey the laws of the land." Coyle lives alone in Sunland's Monte Vista Mobile Estates during the winter and in her hometown of Sedalia, Colo., in the Rocky Mountains during the summer. A retired hairdresser and onetime rancher, she's facing the media in her trademark orange straw hat and Indian beads around her neck. Because her trailer lacks a phone, the park's office manager has been taking scores of messages on her behalf over the last week and showing TV news crews to Coyle's place. An 80-year-old woman from Canada sent her a letter of support with a $20 bill. A representative from Ellen DeGeneres' talk show called Thursday, trying to book the great-great-grandmother on her TV show. "I didn't want all this publicity," said Coyle. "But I'm not objecting to being used if it gets the lights changed and gets respect for the elderly. I think people can see I'm being sincere," she continued. "I'm speaking for all those seniors who can't get across the street." It was Feb. 15 when Coyle was crossing Foothill Boulevard and Woodward Avenue after a trip to the grocery store. Coyle said she was crossing the intersection on a "Walk" signal, but was only past mid-street when it changed. That's when a motorcycle officer rode up and began repeatedly shouting at her, "You're obstructing the flow of traffic!" she said. "I don't like being talked to like I'm a 6-year-old," she added. Coyle said she tried to explain to him that she couldn't make it across in time because of her age, but he refused to listen. "He should have gotten off his motorcycle and helped me cross when he saw me struggling," Coyle said. But the Los Angeles Police Department said the officer saw her begin to cross the street after the "Don't Walk" sign began flashing, signaling it was about to change. "While many people may look at that and say the LAPD should have a greater heart and should care more that this was an 82-year-old woman, our desire is that this 82-year-old woman, and all citizens of L.A., conduct themselves in a manner that is safe," said Michel Moore, deputy chief of operations at the department's Valley Bureau. Moore noted that an elderly woman was struck and killed by a car in the area just eight days earlier. LAPD officials acknowledged that citing Coyle for jaywalking has not been popular. The department has received a flood of cards and e-mails from Alaska, Indiana, Texas, Tennessee and elsewhere. Some protesters have mistakenly sent their missives to the San Fernando Police Department, a smaller agency that patrols the nearby city. San Fernando Police Chief Anthony Alba said the angry letters have come from across the U.S. mostly from seniors. One senior from Rochester, N.Y., wrote that he was "disgusted" and "astounded" by the citation. A letter writer in the Los Angeles Daily News, which reported the story earlier this week, questioned why Coyle was ticketed when many immigrant rights protesters were not. At Los Angeles City Hall, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel is calling on the city Transportation Department to reexamine how long the agency sets "Walk" signals. John Fisher, assistant general manager for the Department of Transportation, estimated that Coyle would have had about 27 seconds to cross Foothill Boulevard before the signal began to flash. Some intersections such as those near senior centers are modified to give pedestrians more time to get across. Fisher said his agency would study the intersection where Coyle was ticketed next week. Greuel believes a more sweeping study is needed. "We've had calls from Canada and all kinds of places," she said. "I think it's because everyone pictures their own mother, grandmother, aunt, uncle trying to cross the street and they have a picture of that." Coyle is fighting her ticket in court. If she loses, the owner of her mobile home park gave her the money to cover it. Friends at the mobile home park, however, hope she wins her case and that the incident forces the city to help pedestrians more. "I think [she] may stir things up enough to get things done," said Darwin Benjamin, a retired stuntman who once doubled for Chuck Norris. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx It's one of the most insensitive stories that I've heard in awhile....... Sure cops have a job to do but they often lose their cool and sadly this appears to be the case. Also I believe it is a federal law that people with disabilities are given leeway. So what gives with this LAPD cop? But the Los Angeles Police Department said the officer saw her begin to cross the street after the "Don't Walk" sign began flashing, signaling it was about to change. I say it's BS......... Cops are maybe the biggest liars on Earth after politicians IMO. I don't say all cops are liars just most of them.... Why do I say that most cops are liars? (IMO) Well I relate this story that was told to me as an example. This cop from Texas was telling somebody that I know how he had transfered to the LAPD from Texas to be near his girlfriend in L.A. Anyways at his home, he heard his dog barking so he looked out the window and saw his dog in his yard fighting another dog, while a neighbor women watched while holding a third dog on leash. From inside his home through the window, the Texas cop saw that suddenly the neighbor women released the third dog to join the fight against the Texas cop's dog in the Texas cop's yard. The Texas cop immediately got his dog and stopped the fight. Then he questioned the neighbor women, "Why did you let your dog go to join the dog fight?" The neighbor women responded and said, "I'm a cop and that is not what happened. Your dog attacked both of my dogs. I going to report your dog to the animal control department and your dog will be put to sleep." The Texas cop then showed his ID and fortunately he out ranked the neighbor cop women so that was end of it. But this Texas cop went on to say, "Things are different out here!" Sad but IMO cops do lie and if you have to fight a cop's story in court forget it unless you have collaborating witnesses to your story as the Judge always sides with the cop. Good luck to this lady..........
  9. Go Glaus and Bee Mo(lina).......... :notworthy :notworthy :thumbup
  10. I'm going to try to watch the Marlins game today, 4/11/06........ :thumbup
  11. I'm not for pre-emptive attacks and feel they are a radical philosphy. I doubt it!
  12. * Name: David * Age: 49 * Nationality: English (with Scottish, Spanish and Cuban ancestry in addition), USA citizen (Relatives in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Venezuela, South Africa, and maybe some distant suckers in Cuba). * Height: 5'-11" * Eye color: brown * Hair Color: was brown, now black/gray
  13. Nice collection that you are building........... :notworthy :thumbup
  14. Rollcall: Who got the MLB.com's internet TV package for $ 79.95? I just got it today....... I can watch all the Angels games on cable locally, (thanks Arte), but I wanted to watch more MLB. Steve Finley just got his 2nd hit of the day, (2 for 5)......in the Giants' game. Where was Finley last season? The quality is not digital or HD but good enough. However there should be "brightness" controls as the picture is a little dark. :arms :compute :super
  15. Das Texan :notworthy :thumbup But you forgot to list Juanky........LOL
  16. Das Texan and all libertarian liberals Libertarians and modern liberals have little in commonAdd know it all "Juanky" to my list............ All the Libertarians that I have met in California are liberals in dogma ie anti-Republican, yet pro-Democrat. Generally they preach "Don't take my rights away" while being fascist like restrictive to others.Looks like someone needs to learn a tad bit of restraint now If your description is correct, you've met zero libertarians. Please don't throw around labels without knowing what they really mean. Libertarians stand for small government in every facet of life, and have nothing in common with fascists while having little in common with both Republicans and Democrats. Thanks for furthering ignorance in the world, though. Democracy appreciates it. However, since you look at the political spectrum as a line instead of a compass, there's no way you can appreciate the differences in political thought between individuals and groups since you're only looking at half of the picture. BTW, using Wikipedia as a source only furthers your lack of an argument. Using your "brain" shows lack of knowledge......... And yes you are a "zero!" Oh yes, I've heard your arguments before but even the Democrats and Republicans have "buzz words" to nicely describe themselves. Did Hitler view himself evil? Does Castro? So what I stated and quoted from Wikipedia is how the general population of the U.S. views Libertarians. Obviously Libetarians are quite happy uselessly voting in each election and never acheiving representation of themselves. (Suits me well too, I'm happy for you guys). Please don't throw around labels without knowing what they really mean. Yes, see here!!!!! Restricting my rights to speech another closet fascist Libertarian. Yes I have met your types before, one claimed to be a chapter leader...... Thanks for furthering ignorance in the world, though. Democracy appreciates it. OMG Another person whom is building the master race with his genes.......LOL Is there any difference in your personal dogma and statements from those set forth by Aryan Nation members? I would guess not......
  17. If anyone here says they hate the Yankees, then they have to hate the Red Sox (unless they are a Boston fan first and are required by birth to hate the Yankees). Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Orioles and Angels are all the same type of big-market vulture that are bad for the balance of baseball. I'm not on a Marlins soap-box, because I think all those teams have good owners (even if some are misguided in their attempts to mimic Steinbrenner), but the only reason to hate the Yankees is because they spend, which sounds an awful lot like the Red Sox, Mets, Orioles and Angels. I don't understand hating the Yankees, just disliking some of their fans' sense of entitlement, but even then they aren't as bad as the incessantly bemoaning Cubs or Red Sox fans, or inferiority complex to the nines Mets and Orioles fans. Speaking in defense of the Angels whom have: 1. Drawn over 3 millions fans 3 years in a row. 2. Signed a $ 500 million tv deal with FSN. 3. A Franchise that made money last year. 3. An innovative owner whom made the above possible while the previous owner tried and failed. Those things are good for baseball better than the welfare dependent Florida franchises can do for baseball. 4 of the 5 California MLB franchises drew over 3 million fans last year.
  18. I don't hate the Yankees............ (For personal reasons) But the Yankees are not my favorite team. I do hate the Red Sox, (1986 & 1994) and Brewers. :mischief2 :mischief2
  19. Harold Reynolds and anti-Angels and pro-A's bias ESPN anti-Arte Moreno and pro Yanks/Bosox bias, (the ESPN message board is still called "Anaheim Angels.") Das Texan and all libertarian liberals Buckeye and "there's room" argument...let Buckeye leave his front door unlocked for strangers, there's room. wow thats a new term. i dont think i have ever heard of it. thats amazing. Das Texan and all libertarian liberals Libertarians and modern liberals have little in common Add know it all "Juanky" to my list............ All the Libertarians that I have met in California are liberals in dogma ie anti-Republican, yet pro-Democrat. Generally they preach "Don't take my rights away" while being fascist like restrictive to others. Wow. I am that way? I am trying to figure out where I have ever wanted any American's rights taken away. Maybe I'm just on drugs and cant recall anything. Among outside political watchers"]while others consider them liberal because of their advocacy [/b] of a non-interventionist foreign policy, the repeal of drug prohibition, and the elimination of laws that interfere with private consensual acts (such as prostitution and gambling). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_P...nited_States%29 See what I'm talking about, you guys don't fool me.......You're a Libertarian liberal. Fortunately there are only 200,000 of you guys in the U.S. As far as taking rights away, you are taking me out of context, however you do often suspend the poster "Bob Dole" for no reason at all. LOL
  20. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...-home-headlines From the Los Angeles Times U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan The administration's proposal would modernize the nation's complex of laboratories and factories as well as produce new bombs. By Ralph Vartabedian Times Staff Writer April 6, 2006 The Bush administration Wednesday unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the nation's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing capacity. The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernization of the nation's massive system of laboratories and factories for nuclear bombs since the end of the Cold War. Until now, the nation has depended on carefully maintaining aging bombs produced during the Cold War arms race, some several decades old. The administration, however, wants the capability to turn out 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022, as the Pentagon retires older bombs that it says will no longer be reliable or safe. Under the plan, all of the nation's plutonium would be consolidated into a single facility that could be more effectively and cheaply defended against possible terrorist attacks. The plan would remove the plutonium kept at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by 2014, though transfers of the material could start sooner. In recent years, concern has grown that Livermore, surrounded by residential neighborhoods in the Bay Area, could not repel a terrorist attack. But the administration blueprint is facing sharp criticism, both from those who say it does not move fast enough to consolidate plutonium stores and from those who say restarting bomb production would encourage aspiring nuclear powers across the globe to develop weapons. The plan was outlined to Congress on Wednesday by Thomas D'Agostino, head of nuclear weapons programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the Energy Department. Though the weapons proposal would restore the capacity to make new bombs, D'Agostino said it was part of a larger effort to accelerate the dismantling of aging bombs left from the Cold War. D'Agostino acknowledged in an interview that the administration was walking a fine line by modernizing the U.S. nuclear weapons program while assuring other nations that it was not seeking a new arms race. The credibility of the contention rests on the U.S. intent to sharply reduce its inventory of weapons. The administration is also quickly moving ahead with a new nuclear bomb program known as the "reliable replacement warhead," which began last year. Originally described as an effort to update existing weapons and make them more reliable, it has been broadened and now includes the potential for new bomb designs. Weapons labs currently are engaged in a design competition. The U.S. built its last nuclear weapon in 1989 and last tested a weapon underground in 1992. Since the Cold War, the nation has had massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons to deter potential attacks. By contrast, it would increasingly rely on the capability to build future bombs for deterrence, D'Agostino said. The blueprint calls for a modern complex to design a new nuclear bomb and have it ready in less than four years, allowing the nation to respond to changing military requirements. Similar proposals in the past, such as for a nuclear bomb to attack underground bunkers, provoked concern that they undermined U.S. policy to stop nuclear proliferation. The impetus for the plan is a growing belief that efforts to maintain older nuclear bombs and keep up a large nuclear weapons industrial complex are technically and financially unsustainable. Last year, a task force led by San Diego physicist David Overskei recommended that the Energy Department consolidate the system of eight existing weapons complexes into one site. Overskei said Wednesday that the cost of security alone for the current infrastructure of plants over the next two decades was roughly $25 billion. Security costs have grown, because the Sept. 11 attacks have led the Energy Department to believe terrorists could mount a larger and better armed strike force. Peter Stockton, a former Energy Department security consultant who is now an investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, criticized the plutonium consolidation plan in House testimony, saying it would delay the difficult work too far into the future. Stockton added in an interview that the plutonium transfer at Livermore could be accomplished in a few months. Until now, Livermore lab officials have sharply disagreed with the idea of removing plutonium from their site, saying it was essential to their work. On Wednesday, a lab spokesman said the issue was "far less controversial" and the "decision rests in Washington." The Bush plan, described at a hearing of the strategic subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, would consolidate much of the weapons capacity, but not as completely or quickly as outside critics would like. The overall plan would not be fully implemented until 2030. A crucial part of restarting U.S. nuclear bomb production involves so-called plutonium pits, hollow spheres surrounded by high explosives. The pits start nuclear fission and trigger the nuclear fusion in a bomb. The plutonium pits were built at the Energy Department's former Rocky Flats site near Denver until the weapons plant was shut down in 1989 after it was found to have violated environmental regulations. In recent years, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has tried to start limited production of plutonium pits and hopes to build a certified pit that will enter the so-called war reserve next year. Los Alamos would be producing about 30 to 50 pits per year by 2012, but the Energy Department said that was not enough to sustain the U.S. nuclear deterrent. In his testimony, D'Agostino estimated plutonium pits would last 45 to 60 years, after which they would be unreliable and might result in an explosion smaller than intended. Critics outside the government sharply dispute that conclusion, saying there is no evidence that pits degrade over time and that the nation can keep an adequate nuclear deterrent by maintaining its existing weapons. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Sounds like a plan but G W Bush is really a big spender......... :hat
  21. Harold Reynolds and anti-Angels and pro-A's bias ESPN anti-Arte Moreno and pro Yanks/Bosox bias, (the ESPN message board is still called "Anaheim Angels.") Das Texan and all libertarian liberals Buckeye and "there's room" argument...let Buckeye leave his front door unlocked for strangers, there's room. wow thats a new term. i dont think i have ever heard of it. thats amazing. Das Texan and all libertarian liberals Libertarians and modern liberals have little in common Add know it all "Juanky" to my list............ All the Libertarians that I have met in California are liberals in dogma ie anti-Republican, yet pro-Democrat. Generally they preach "Don't take my rights away" while being fascist like restrictive to others. Wow. I am that way? I am trying to figure out where I have ever wanted any American's rights taken away. Maybe I'm just on drugs and cant recall anything. I stated, speaking of the Libertarian liberals in California: Generally they preach "Don't take my rights away" while being fascist like restrictive to others. I did not say you in Texas.
  22. Das Texan and all libertarian liberals Libertarians and modern liberals have little in common Add know it all "Juanky" to my list............ All the Libertarians that I have met in California are liberals in dogma ie anti-Republican, yet pro-Democrat. Generally they preach "Don't take my rights away" while being fascist like restrictive to others.
  23. Harold Reynolds and anti-Angels and pro-A's bias ESPN anti-Arte Moreno and pro Yanks/Bosox bias, (the ESPN message board is still called "Anaheim Angels.") Das Texan and all libertarian liberals Buckeye and "there's room" argument...let Buckeye leave his front door unlocked for strangers, there's room. OH NOES! HALP! The Mexicans are coming. And there's no room for them! The issue you're bringing up is me giving something up that I own. That's irrelevant, the issue at hand is whether or not there's room for illegals, which I proved there is. No need for them to seize my property or anything. It's still a fact that we're using only 35-37% of our land, if that. All you had to to was counter that and prove spacious places like Texas and Idaho (maybe even the entire Midwest) have people living on top of each other and I'd concede. Anyways, didn't you get banned for making inappopriate comments in that thread? So, are you mad at me, or the mod who did it? And Harold Reynolds rules, he's the nega-Kruk and for my liking not enough people listed HIM. Freakin' John Kruk. You proved nothing and nobody agrees with you. That "empty" land is owned by somebody either private or vested citizen's interest via the government. So lets unlock your front door tonight....LOL Obviously I'm not banned despite yours crys to some mod. I hoped you would be banned for calling strangers "bigots."
  24. Harold Reynolds and anti-Angels and pro-A's bias ESPN anti-Arte Moreno and pro Yanks/Bosox bias, (the ESPN message board is still called "Anaheim Angels.") Das Texan and all libertarian liberals Buckeye and "there's room" argument...let Buckeye leave his front door unlocked for strangers, there's room.
  25. Carter allowed surveillance in 1977 By Charles Hurt THE WASHINGTON TIMES February 11, 2006 http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060210-110722-2189r.htm Former President Jimmy Carter, who publicly rebuked President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program this week during the funeral of Coretta Scott King and at a campaign event, used similar surveillance against suspected spies. "Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision -- we're not going to the let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people," Mr. Carter said Monday in Nevada when his son Jack announced his Senate campaign. "And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act," he said. The next day at Mrs. King's high-profile funeral, Mr. Carter evoked a comparison to the Bush policy when referring to the "secret government wiretapping" of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. But in 1977, Mr. Carter and his attorney general, Griffin B. Bell, authorized warrantless electronic surveillance used in the conviction of two men for spying on behalf of Vietnam. The men, Truong Dinh Hung and Ronald Louis Humphrey, challenged their espionage convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which unanimously ruled that the warrantless searches did not violate the men's rights. In its opinion, the court said the executive branch has the "inherent authority" to wiretap enemies such as terror plotters and is excused from obtaining warrants when surveillance is "conducted 'primarily' for foreign intelligence reasons." That description, some Republicans say, perfectly fits the Bush administration's program to monitor calls from terror-linked people to the U.S. The Truong case, however, involved surveillance that began in 1977, before the enactment of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which established a secret court for granting foreign intelligence warrants. Democrats and some Republicans in Congress say FISA guidelines, approved in 1978 when Mr. Carter was president, are the only way the president may conduct surveillance on U.S. soil. Administration officials say the president has constitutional authority to conduct surveillance without warrants in the name of national security. The only way Congress could legitimately curtail that authority, they argue, is through an amendment to the Constitution. The administration's view has been shared by previous Democrat administrations, including Mr. Carter's. When Mr. Bell testified in favor of FISA, he told Congress that while the measure doesn't explicitly acknowledge the "inherent power of the president to conduct electronic surveillance," it "does not take away the power of the president under the Constitution." Jamie S. Gorelick, deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, agreed. In 1994 testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Miss Gorelick said case law supports the presidential authority to conduct warrantless searches and electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes. Earlier this week, however, Mr. Carter said it was "ridiculous" for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to say the spying is justified by Article II of the Constitution. Republicans say they welcome such criticism because it proves Democrats can't be trusted with national security. "Just when you thought that the Democrats' image of being soft on defense issues couldn't get any worse, enter the sage wisdom of President Jimmy Carter to save the day," said Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx John Dean is a "Fool!"
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