Tag Archives: Operation Mockingbird

Listening To The People

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I recently posted three articles (here, here, and here) about the renewal of FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Section 702. Note that the law is called “foreign intelligence surveillance” act–not the spying on your political opponents act. Unfortunately the act has been used 278,000 times to conduct illegal searches on Americans. That is why I oppose the renewal of Section 702.

On Wednesday, The Hill reported:

A group of House Republicans on Wednesday tanked a procedural vote to begin debate on a bill to reauthorize the nation’s warrantless surveillance powers, leaving the chamber scrambling on how to address the important spy tool before it expires next week.

Nineteen Republicans joined Democrats in voting against a rule for legislation to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), blocking the measure from advancing 193-228.

The move comes after former President Trump on Wednesday urged Republicans to “KILL FISA” — throwing a wrench in an already contentious debate.

The failed vote marks yet another instance of members of the GOP tanking what is typically a routine party-line vote to protest legislation put forward by leadership.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, The Hill is part of the Operation Mockingbird media. The public has also urged Congress to kill FISA, but the author of the article chooses to overlook that.

On Wednesday, The Hill also reported:

Former Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday denounced former President Trump’s exhortation for Congress to kill the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as “crazy and reckless” and warned there will be “blood on people’s hands” if the intelligence community’s surveillance authority expires and there’s a terrorist attack on the United States.

Barr, who served in Trump’s Cabinet in 2019 and 2020, noted that Trump at one time supported the expanded surveillance powers authorized under Section 702 of FISA and warned that political “posturing” against extending that authority would be dangerous to national security.

“I think it’s crazy and reckless to not move forward with FISA. It’s our principal tool protecting us from terrorist attacks. We’re living through a time where those threats have never been higher, so it’s blinding us, it’s blinding our allies,” Barr told The Hill in an interview.

You mean those allies that aided in the Russia Hoax?

Section 702 is a step toward a government that can surveil its political opponents without any limitations. They don’t need a warrant and the people surveilled don’t have to know they are being watched. That is a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which states:

Fourth Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Bill Barr is a lawyer. He is supposed to know the U.S. Constitution.

Looking Past The Spin

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It’s always interesting to listen to enough mainstream media to find out what the catch phrase of the day is. When Dick Cheney was appointed as George W. Bush’s Vice-President, the phrase was ‘gravitas.’ I can’t prove that the mainstream media has an online meeting early every morning to plan the news for the day, but I can say that it sure looks that way. Even Wikipedia has an entry for Operation Mockingbird.

Two of the current phrases of the day are ‘Putin’s tax on food and gas’ and ‘Putin’s inflation.’ I am not sure the American public actually believes either one.

On Friday, The Western Journal noted the following:

President Joe Biden is continuing to blame inflation on Russian President Vladimir Putin more than three months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

During an event on Friday, Biden addressed the latest inflation report as he said, “I understand Americans are anxious. And they’re anxious for good reason.”

“I was raised in a household when the price of gasoline rose precipitously it was the discussion at the table. It made a difference,” he continued.

Finally, Biden said, “We’ve never seen anything like Putin’s tax on both food and gas.”

Actually, inflation arrived before Putin invaded Ukraine, but that is what you call an inconvenient truth.

The article notes:

From the outset of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Biden officials have blamed the “Putin price hike” for the spikes Americans were seeing in gas and food prices — even though inflation had hit a 40-year-high in the months leading up to the invasion.

Biden’s comments come after the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that inflation accelerated in May.

The consumer price index rose 8.6% in May compared to the same month last year, marking the fastest pace of price increases since Dec. 1981.

It’s much easier to blame Putin than to take responsibility for the runaway government spending that has occurred since President Biden took office. Look for more catch phrases of the day as inflation continues.