Bush was spying illegally before 9/11

Well, well, well. The former head of Qwest Communications claims that the Bush administration pressured him to help them spy on Americans without a warrant. Six months before 9/11. Apparently, Nacchio declined because he thought it might be illegal, and the Bushies retaliated by bringing insider trading charges against him.

And lest you think that this is just an accusation being made by a guy trying to beat the rap, the same sort of accusation was made regarding Verizon, which started building a spying facility just days after Bush's inauguration.

This basically means that Bush's claim that 9/11 made him think it was necessary to spy on Americans was bullshit. Bush began spying on Americans almost immediately after being inaugurated. 9/11 wasn't the cause. Like so many other things, it was the EXCUSE used to justify was Bush wanted to do anyway.

In addition, Kagro X makes this terrific point:

But it's not just that. If Qwest's competitors were already abetting this bloodless(?) coup before 9/11, then the "administration's" domestic spying not only has little if anything to do with response to terrorism, but it also objectively failed to prevent 9/11.

You think this little tidbit might slow Congress down and make them hesitate a bit about giving retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies? And decide that maybe letting Bush spy on Americans in the name of protecting us is really, really stupid?

More here, here, and here.