Keith Olbermann has been tracking the Bush Administration’s use of trumped up terror alerts to manipulate the American people for the past two years, but in this latest Nexus of Politics & Terror report on Countdown, it appears the president stooped to a new low by using a bogus terror threat that specifically targeted Capitol Hill to manipulate members of Congress just hours before a crucial vote on the FISA bill last August.
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According to Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Terrorism Risk Assessment, the Bush administration knowingly used bogus intelligence to make lawmakers believe there was the chance of an imminent attack on the U.S. Capitol, thus frightening them into passing the temporary expansion of his powers to spy on Americans under the FISA act. Keith talks with former Reagan administration official and chairman of the American Freedom Agenda Bruce Fein, who has called for the impeachment of both Dick Cheney and George Bush about Bush’s unconstitutional power grabs and how the Democrats can exert their powers as a co-equal branch of government by refusing to fund any spending mandated in future FISA bills.
Filed Under: Countdown/Keith Olbermann, George W. Bush, Hackery, MSNBC, Terrorism, The Senate, White House
7 Trackbacks To “Countdown: Bush Used Bogus Terror Threat To Scare Votes For FISA Bill“
C&L rules!
Isn’t that like filing a phony police report?
Sounds impeachable to me.
Proof positive that Miss Nancy and ‘Gutless’ Reid along with every coward that gave Herr Bush what he wanted on the FISA bill are just plain unfit to lead.
Here’s a picture of your typical scared shitless ‘Bush Dog’
The idea that we are being ‘governed’ by such patheticly stupid and weak people makes me physically ill.
Throw these idiots out!
Good for Harman for speaking up. I wish this kind of shit made me ask, is this true? Sadly it doesn’t and sadly it is true. They’ll stop at nothing. Are we sure Rove is really gone?
Bush will speak at the UN shortly if you can stomach watching it.
How frickin’ gullible are the Dems?
“Omigod! The terrorists are coming! Well, don’t just stand there — tap my phone!!”
It’s amazing to me that the democratic leadership keeps falling for this crap. I am just as disgusted with them as I am the bush administration for pulling this kind of crap AGAIN! It’s no longer good enough for the democratic leaders to cry about it after they come back from vacation ,they should be asking the tough questions and investigating before signing away our rights and privacy to the bush administration.SHAMEFUL !
pissed off patricia @ 4:
OK, that’s it. Let’s cut UN funding.
I think it’s pretty clear that saying Big Bad Bushie” scared wittle ole us wif a scarey story ’bout terror” just doesn’t impress people. We need leaders, not spineless wimps.
Sad thing is, the Demos will likely cave when the question of immunity for the telcos comes up. It’s like they’re afraid of being the majority.
I think if the dems ever decided to wield the ‘power’ they supposedly have most of them would find themselves or their family members in detention at a secure location for whatever bogus reason the shrub co. shock troops could come up with. They’d be there for “good” reasons of course and would be released as soon as the remaining dems agreed to repug “reason”.
Better yet, Joementum, let’s cut bush’s funding and not pay him until he does as we tell him to do. We do pay his salary, ya know. :)
The FISA laws did not need to be changed and power did not need to be expanded. I thought we voted in intelligent, reasonable people who reviewed the facts on a issue before voting.
But then, so many voters don’t. i suppose i shouldn’t expect the people they’re voting for to do so, either.
File this under weird. Someone in Rudy’s campaign is trying to start a fund raiser where everyone donates nine dollars and eleven cents. Is that jumping the 9-11 shark yet?
I cannot believe that congress fell for a false terrorist attack scare, none of us would. Does that mean we are braver than congress? Looks like it.
Gee, wouldn’t it be nice if they finally got their wish and every single rethuglican neocon, their lackeys and their fundie butt buddies would just get raptured? Imagine how nice the world would be then.
pissed off patricia @ 11:
At this point I’d pay him whatever he wants just to go away. Let him take the golden parachute right outta Air Force One, if that’ll make him feel better.
My favorite time — Mumbles tries to read the teleprompter
Geez, we in the netroots knew this was almost certainly the case with the FISA scare, but the groveling dimwitted Dems in congress fell for it hook, line and sinker. We should send all of our “representatives” a big sucker.
Malaria? Chimp OKs the killing of 100’s of thousands of civilians, and sends millions more to refugee camps, but now shows false concern about what havoc the evil Mosquito has done. Stupid chimp
Everyday I have to read more of this BULLSHIT. I can’t TAKE IT ANY MORE. When is somebody going to do something. What is it going to take to burn this mother down. We need to be in the streets people.
Clap? don’t clap! Damn, they clapped! What was needed was a cream pie.
The Carpenter @ 19:
When the tv stops working and the malls close. That’s when people are going to start looking around wondering who to blame and I’m sure the repugs will have a convenient scape goat all picked out.
Did I see one delegation get up and walk out while the chimp was slurring his words? If so, which country was it?
The Carpenter @ 19:
It’s to late. That should have happened in Nov-Dec 2000.
the Bush administration knowingly used bogus intelligence to make lawmakers believe there was the chance of an imminent attack on the U.S. Capitol, thus frightening them into passing the temporary expansion of his powers to spy on Americans under the FISA act
Isn’t “making a terroristic threat” a felony now?
I had to stop watching when Shrub started talking about ignorance!
Damnit, it’s “The Democratic Congress” not “The Democrat Congress.” How many times do we have to remind them of this?
It continues… a new “low” every single day. It’s all coming apart for the Bushies. And just imagine what they have done, that we haven’t even found out about yet.
the junta will do anything to get their Stasi legislation passed. Chertoff can go to Hell
Just reinforces the fact: Democrats = wimps
They quickly showed persons leaving while Chimp was mispronouncing on the podium, but they never commented on it, at least not on ABC. Surprise Surprise!
I have said this before, our country has been taken over by the banksters, the neo cons will soon turn on us and take away all your money, JFK warned us about secret societies and Twight Eisenhower warned us about Military industrial complex, so we can only assume they are working together to end civilization as we know it. Keep faith my friends.
Come Keith O’, just say it on TV.
“You have the Right, and duty to throw off such government”
Terrorism.
Republican Terrorism.
Intimidation.
Obfuscation.
Subversion.
Perversion.
The Nerve, son.
One of Chertoff’s head honchos is stepping down. Wonder if he’ll write a book confessing his sins?
Bush was talking about Cuba when that group left and he was saying the regime there would soon come to an end. Probably referring to Castro’s age and eventual death. Maybe it was the Cuban delegation who walked out.
The Republicans or whatever they are can win in 08.
Don’t kid yourself.
I smell sulfur!
Dean @ 29:
Good point. They can’t even complain about it without admitting that Bush turned them all into bedwetters (again). They’ll all claim they were going to courageously vote for it anyway. Ugh.
Dean @ 29:
i’m sorry but that dog won’t hunt. these guys are not wimps, their just complicit. it’s not thier role to challenge the white house, their role is to be a good lap dog, protect the rich, corporate american entities, and then capitalize when they assume power.
stop making excuses for the democrats and hold them accountable.
IgnoranceIsNotBliss @ 26:
My conservative friends like to say ‘democrat party.’ I usually grin delightedly, and point out that if we get to make up our own names for the other party, that they support the “Hypocritical Repressed Nasty Naughty Dirty little boy reaction formation Party.” Once they realize that I really *can* say that every, single, time … they usually cave.
MSNBC wants us to submit questions. Ha! Careful what you ask for. I’m sure we can think up some good ones. First I am going to ask how they keep a straight face when bush says things like “Human Rights” or “ignorance” or “freedom”. Lets get some REAL questions out there. Lets ask them to justify bush’s use of terror to get what he wants. How do they stop themselves from laughing out loud when bush bashes the dems for spending too much when HE has run up a debt of 9 trillion? I have seen the intelligence on this blog. I know you have good questions. Lets see how many get aired.
Do you remember the Athrax, which was proven to come from a US military base, that was sent to Democrats to help push the Patriot Act?
I wonder what they will come up with to get everyone behind an attack on Iran?
…hmmmmmm…I wonder.
I think this deserves a “Post of the Day Award”
Yeah…I know the day has just started and I am somewhat of a dictator in handing out my ‘Post of the Day Awards” since there is no voting on it. :P
I remember Hagel and Co. with the fake chemical alert that trapped them in a room in early 2006. He was look step after that….
yenehC hcaepmI @ 42:
Oh yeah…the Anthrax attacks…the MSM is really on top of that story aren’t they? The gov’t investigation into those acts reminds me of OJ searching for the “real killers”.
This country is SO pathetic.
yenehC hcaepmI @ 42:
Probably deliberately nuke some city… one that’s large enough to kill a significant amount of people, but kind of isolated that it won’t cause a huge mess… I’m thinking something like Fargo, ND or Eugene, OR.
I wouldn’t put it past these assholes to kill tens of thousands of our own civilians to further their agenda.
Magna Carta Is Going on the Auction Block
By JAMES BARRON
The only copy of the Magna Carta, the document that laid the foundation for fundamental principles of English law, in the United States is about to go on sale.
What will it take for us to collectively say, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”
Wasn’t this about the time when the bogus stories about the terrorist trying dry runs at airports surfaced. One of those terrorists turned out to be that nice lady in San Diego:
CNN Newsroom July 28, 2007
SARA WEISS, AIRPORT PASSENGER: I’m not a terrorist. I’m a 66- year-old woman with a bad back. I was on vacation going to visit my son in San Diego.
TODD: Sarah Weiss says the ice packs she carried, like these, had clay inside them because they were old and that’s the way they were made. Weiss was held for three hours, questioned by San Diego harbor police and two men who she said were in plain clothes and didn’t identify themselves. She says one question, from a San Diego harbor policeman, shocked her.
Bush has been creating bogus terror since his first inauguration to further the neocon plan to destroy America. But since the Democratic Party has taken control of both houses, and nothing has changed, this bullshit is now Congress’s fault. I place all the blame on Nancy Pelosi for her dereliction that this continues, and upon Harry Reid for his utter gutlessness. Bush and Cheney must be impeached, and Pelosi is obstructing justice by not allowing that to happen.
I am also profoundly disappointed with Democratic senators like Webb, and Feinstein for their vote on FISA, which committed but another act of rape upon the Constitution while doing nothing to protect us from threats to security - all of which to my eyes have been imaginary to this point. Webb has already lost my vote in the next election.