The Fed Who Blew the Whistle

It is onr thing to publicly expose Watergate which did not affect american security, and another to cowardly (from pay phone, undercover, keeping his job) reveal highly classified secret relating to saving human lives. He had several legal options, which definitely would endanger his job, if he did it he could be considered a hero.

Even more should be exposed and real transparency should be the rule. Extreme conservatism, including the ???trickle down??? rationalization, has much the same characteristics as found in illegal pyramid schemes. They are equal in that only a few people really benefit, that they are driven by self-interests, are infected with greed and dishonesty, are promoted by attraction to people???s self-interests and greed, and depend on taking advantage of the majority. The fraud they can perpetrate results in the collapse of the infected systems (i.e., corporate corruption, Wall Street, financial industry, auto industry, religious extremism,,,) and can eventually even bring down the total economy (what we are close to today). Without the regulations, enforcement, controls, checks and balances needed to keep aggressive conservative methodology from being the run-away service of the powerful few, greed, dishonesty and self-indulgence naturally take over. As long as the focus is on total deregulation, completely open and fair-trade markets and on the unchecked pursuit of benefit for Special Interests and a select few, without real protection, consideration and concern for the majority, the natural result will be what we are experiencing today. This criticism is neither liberal thinking advocating a large ???tax and spend??? government giving to a dependent population nor is it advocating protectionism but rather is pragmatism, is simply recognizing reality that demands moderate conservative/liberal positions and a centrist thinking that actually benefits everyone. The other choice is to continue down the road we have been on, with only very costly temporary delays, ending eventually in catastrophe.

What kind of asinine title is this?

Hero. Hero. Hero.

Any American who is willing to sacrifice his right to privacy should prove it or shut up. If you think the government should be able to wiretap without a warrant, then you should put a webcam in your home and leave it on all the time so we can all watch you. Voluntarily give up your right to privacy or keep your damn mouth shut.

"They hate us for our freedom", so the plan was to surrender that freedom and tear up the consititution. Only honorable men like Thomas Tamm can save our country from traitors like G. W. B***.

John Morrissey is correct. The Venona releases prove McCarthy was right. In actuality his list fell far short of the actual problem.

truth01 suggests that the US govt was not riddled with spies in WW2.That dispute is over.Harry Hopkins,Alger Hiss,Harry Dexter White,the Rosenbaums, etc spying was confirmed by the" Venona Intercepts",and confirmed by postwar Soviet files and by Harvey Klehrs books, by Sam Tannenhaus,and finally by Alger Hiss's son who recently conceded his father was indeed a spy for the Soviets.There is a large and comprehensive literature on this subject to which I recommend your reading.You attack McCarthy for politically based attack and then yourself make a politically based attack on Hoover, and defend a man Tamm who makes a politically based attack one aspect of the govts programs for security, which he concedes he does not understand nor comprehend because he disagrees with the politics (capital punishment,waterboarding) of the administration.Let us agree that any group of 20 Americans will have 20 different views on political issues.Those views should not direct your actions if you are in the government.Hating Bush for capital punishment or Al Gore for global warming views does not give you the right to undermine them. If you feel strongly about it, do the right thing.Resign and oppose them from the outside and in the open.Tamm has given aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war.Those of you who think you know our constitution may want to consult it for what that means.

Mr. Tamm is a true patriot. From one who was harassed like he was -- but for me it was because I opposed the pre-emptive strike on Iraq. Because I happened to be previously employed by someone who was the nephew of the Senate majority leader at the time of deep political polarization, and my beliefs and opinions were not in alignment with their party beliefs...people aligned with this family and its political affiliation used their political power for personal retribution. It was ugly, mob-like and railed against my entire family, putting my entire family in harm's way. Because my father's work for the U.S. government, people and DoD was distorted and misrepresented by these people to "make an example" of someone who disagreed with the current monarch of the U.S. My father's work, and the many scientists he worked with, was critical to the safety of American service men and women in combat, to American towns and cities where deadly substances are stored, and to the safe closure of the cold war so that geographies tied together by conquest and substances and manufacturing facilities throughout these could be dismantled with an eye toward containing the danger of rogue elements gaining access to these substances. The perspectives of Morrissey and js100 living in the mindset of the cold war era are what keeps the world in a dysfunctional past. I don't want you or the people you elect to tell me what I'm "allowed" and "not allowed" to know -- that's not for your determination. The electoral process is for selecting representatives to our government; it's not a ticket to squelch the rights of those whose opinions don't align with your tunnel vision. And it's definitely not a mandate to place elected officials and their appointees outside of the bounds of the Constitution of the United States of America. I'm tired of seeing Americans who truly are in this game for the protection of the Constitution and what it means for ALL U.S. citizens being hung out to dry while those abusing it for their personal financial, material, political and social gain make off like big time crack cocaine and opium dealers. Sorry to break it to those who are still in denial of the truth, but people like myself were attacked by incompetent political hacks with "the program" -- this "program" was not the one to identify terrorist activity -- it was purely political, aimed at American citizens whose politics and personal qualities were not like theirs. "The program" crossed the line from protective measures to Gestapo-like tactics. No thank you. My father died young protecting America...my siblings and I lost a father at very young ages...my mother lost a husband and second income to raise a family. And he did not do this in support of the types of authoritarian practices that a military junta would use.

The Fisa law clearly allows a warrantt to be obtained "after the fact" if thier is a clear and prsent danger . Warrantless wire tapping means there are no records. We have no idea if the program is being used for its stated purpose becuase there are no records. Who knows if all these callst that are being monitored are related to terroism. The answer ? No one . There are no records.

I have known Tom Tamm for about 30 years and there is no one I know with more integrity and patriotism than Tom. He is an American hero for defending the Constitution in this case and I applaud his courage and selflessness.

The perspectives of John Morrissey and js100 are just as exemplary of the total fear-based decision making that has made the Bush Administration's response to Sept. 11 so poorly guided and damaging to democracy. Spying on Americans -- this particular program -- and harassing those who work to uphold the Constitution is wrong and we need to call a spade a spade. Undermining the Constitution has done nothing to protect us. What a disservice to America you do to compare Mr. Tamm to the "communist spies" with which you purport the "US govt was riddled with" in the 1940s. The fact is that Hoover and many other spooks gone awry who did not like others within their agency because of their politics or opinions often used that accusation to damage the reputations of people who understood the truth. Much of these activities -- and those of "the elected" like former Sen. Joe McCarthy -- ruined good peoples' lives and put their families lives in danger for mostly political reasons. Another fact is, I don't pay the people serving America in the government to make decisions about the truth that I am "allowed" to know or "not allowed" to know. The electoral process chooses the people who will be in positions of representation -- it doesn't give them the mandate to take our rights away, our citizen participation in the governing process, or our right to know what policies exist on our behalf so WE can decide whether we want them or not. Mr. Tamm is a true patriot. I suggest that if you like to live in a nation of paranoia and suspicion toward every neighbor for all the ways that they are not like you, try living in a military-led dictatorship. But keep it out of the United States of America.

This is what happens to whistle blowers. Instead of being praised and held up as example to other goverment workers, they are harassed by the very people who have broken the law.

bush rating went up during his second term only 0nce - when he said "I spy". Democrats new public opinion very well, and did not even try to start impeachment process. And who know how many american lives (thousands, millions?) were saved.