The Fed Who Blew the Whistle

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  • Posted By: The_Patriot @ 12/17/2008 2:29:06 PM

    Personally I think this traitor should be executed by firing squad, but I woulid settle for him getting 10 years of hard time.

    • Posted By: YashBudini @ 12/17/2008 5:18:54 PM

      Agreed, but we haven't even impeached Bush yet.

    • Posted By: summer4077 @ 12/17/2008 3:03:48 PM

      You are no patriot if you believe someone should be punished or put to death for exposing corruption and abuse of power. The Revolutionary patriots fought against exactly those injustices.

      • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 3:07:34 PM

        True, the person does not know what patriotism is. They allowed Bush to redefine it for them, as they raped our constitution.

        Remember Freedom Fries??? What a bunch of morons

        • Posted By: YashBudini @ 12/17/2008 4:34:31 PM

          There were Freedom Fries to put food on our families.

          http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushism-foodonfamily.htm

    • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 3:10:36 PM

      Change your name to "the partison" or "the just tell me what to think bush guy", you are no patriot, you do not even understan what one is.

    • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 12/17/2008 3:03:26 PM

      And what should we do with the people doing the illegal wiretaps?

    • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 2:49:13 PM

      With that logic Bush would already be hanged.

      Somebody was not loyal to that fruitcake governor in Chicago, should they be shot for exposing him?

      This guy exposed illegal wiretapping by our governmnent, and he put himslelf on the line doing it. That is what eral patriots did and do. Not the fake patriotism that the freedom fries crowd seems to believe.

      We heard for so long "if you don't agree with Bush, you are not an patriot" SORRY, BUT THE CHEAP ATTEMPT TO REDEFINE A PATRIOT as somebody who is an idiot following incompetence is a joke.

      There are real patriots out there, and they are the ones who expose corruption in government.

      You have been fed on how the BUSH admin redefined sacred things through thier rhetoric, many of you did.

      Some heads need to role in the Bush admin, and they will be exposed.

    • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/17/2008 2:42:58 PM

      Executed? Now of course you don't mean that.

  • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 4:50:59 PM

    I know some people on here do not have the capacity to understand this. It takes thinking beyond partisonship, or who you like or hate. It takes pride and love of ones country.

    I am not happy that I hear people excusing people who will rape our constitution and our values. The terrorists did not wiertap our country, our government did. Our government attacked our values in the name of fighting terrorism, and they did the terrorists job for them.

    So many people ignorantly overlook the fact that America is our values and our constitution and our rights. it is not a piece of land or a race or religion. When we dive down into tearing at that fabric, we hurt our country, and there are people on this board that think it is okay. And by default they are supporting the terrorists without even knowing it.

  • Posted By: element4 @ 12/17/2008 4:04:09 PM

    I believe that history will reflect Thomas Tamm and Jack Goldsmith and others like them as the heroes of our era, while Dick Cheney and David Addington will be revealed as arrogant abusers of their positions. We may move on without impeachments of the rascals of this administration, but their scorn for true justice and Constitutional law will be discussed ad infinitum. Hopefully, if Thomas Tamm is punished, he will be pardoned by Obama; certainly he will be exonerated by history. The works of James Bamford, Jonathan Kwitny, Neil Sheehan, et al will continue to testify to the truths of our abuse.

  • Posted By: YashBudini @ 12/17/2008 3:55:37 PM

    The people who still follow W are people who believe this philosophy.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccolo_Machiavelli

  • Posted By: felix335 @ 12/16/2008 3:19:20 AM

    As a 30+ year veteran of Army intelligence, much of which was working with and for the NSA, I believe Tamm is a traitor and criminal. He should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. By disclosig secret operations and methods and sources of intelligence, he put many in the U.S. Intelligence Community (and allies) in harm's way. If he felt that illegal acts were being comitted, his duty was to report his information to the either (or both, in this case) Inspectors' General (IG) of the Justice Department and the NSA. More deaths to American and allied troops have come from such weasels, such as Tamm, who believe that their conscience is superior to that of U.S. law. He never availed of himself the proper way to handle this information. The leaking to the press is an absolute plea of last resort, after all other options are exhausted
    The one possible exception to this would be if innocent lives were in imminent risk.

    • Posted By: Galasso @ 12/16/2008 9:37:16 AM

      Couldn't agree with you more, Felix. Isikoff has made a career out of savaging the Bush administration and the Federal Agencies. It is also a sad sign of the times when people obtusely attempt to compare any perceived violation of the Constitution - whether it actually is or not - to the heinous crimes of the SS and the Gestapo in the 1940's. The Iranian Badr Corp and QODS forces in the middle east are much closer to the Nazis than anything imaginable in our society - maybe even worse. They have exported the worst kind of murderous activity and directed group executions. The black turban mullahs in Iraq are in collusion with them and have incited the worst in large segments of the population - look at the explosive situation in Sadr City. Isikoff and his colleagues like Keith Olbermann, Rachael Maddow from MSNBC, and Bill Moyers from PBS have all ensured the propaganda drumbeat of fear and hate of the institutions that defend the country is steady and uninterrupted. The segments of the population in large urban areas that will comprise the jury pools, when deciding cases like Tamm's, lap up the conspiracy theories and feel like they're doing a public service when they nullify prosecutorial evidence. It will be interesting to see what the next administration does after being briefed on the intelligence collected over the past several years.

      • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/16/2008 6:26:07 PM

        It isn't about terrorists, it si about an incompetent and insecure administration that was more interested in war for political purposes than good judgement. Many people are much more in touch, and can walk and chew gum, and have the ability to make good judgement calls and be accountable.

        Did this guy break the law, maybe. probably. I suppprt him in being a true patriot, and would do the same to protect the rights or our citizens. You act as if we couldn't do it any other way, that gathering vast amounts of private information of american citizens is the only way to work this problem. That is really some very boxed in thinking, and there are many people that are way more intelligent than that, and your spouting and supporting of those Bush policies, are really insults to the intelligence of thinking people with good judgement.

        Not scared of terrorists, we will deal with that, but scared of the damage of the Bush policies to be sure...

        • Posted By: Galasso @ 12/17/2008 9:41:49 AM

          FFDo you even have a clue what is being collected? Do you understand how information in this day and age is fleeting in nanoseconds and that the people who are working overtime to investigate the labyrinth of throw-away cell phones, phone cards, redialing facilities that are now used all over the world to mask the origin of the calls? And you assume that people working in these stressful times have the leisure to peruse your boring life and make files ? It looks likes you want to abandon this process - which puts us about two campfires on the trail behind these jokers and get a warrant for every single tap. We might as well shut down the whole operation. The drug kingpins in the 1990s figured this out long before the middle eastern fanatics did and avoided capture and detection simply by using our own laws in the US against us.

          • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 3:39:26 PM

            Okay, terrorists win. We undermine our constitution for them, we torture for them, we destabilize the IRAN/IRAQ standoff, we undermine the foundational checks and balances, and values of this country, becuase some in goverment can't think outside the box and have to resort to a bomp when yuo should have used a surgical instrument.

            And BIN Laden is still at large, and our government helped them undermine our values.

            NIce... Please don't do us any more favors Bush...

      • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/16/2008 6:17:52 PM

        What happened to PLAME? NUF said. Hopefully this next administration is not so fuking incompetent, and corrupt and they may be more supported internally.

    • Posted By: Horrible Bastard @ 12/16/2008 9:19:20 AM

      "More deaths to American and allied troops have come from such weasels, such as Tamm, who believe that their conscience is superior to that of U.S. law. "

      What he reported was a violation of US law.

    • Posted By: RichinNH @ 12/16/2008 6:32:33 AM

      Right on, Felix!!

  • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 3:04:53 PM

    NEWSFLASH! Bush rapes constitution, tortures prisoners, spies on ordinary americans, and Al Qaida and Bin Laden are laughing at us. We undermined our own values as a result of incompetence, and the terrorists had the perfect puppets to do it to us with, BUSH/CHENEY.

    We lose as a country when we allow terrorist to undermine our constitution, to redefine what we stand for. BUSH/CHENEY played right into the terrorists playbook. They not only allowed us to me minimized as a country they were responsible for a large part of it.


  • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/17/2008 1:04:54 PM

    Doc Howl-left you posts below to explain regarding my comments . Please read. There seems to be some confusion and it's my fault. Thanks.

    • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 12/17/2008 3:04:25 PM

      I saw that. No problem, and my apologies as well.

  • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 1:10:34 PM

    1. Tamm did not do the terrorists any favors or hurt national security efforts by exposing this bullsht. If you think that he did please don't get a job prtecting us, it is much deeper than that and the terrorists we are dealing with are very capable and the illegal wide net is a needle in the haystack approach that really serves to undermine the FISA courts juridiction.

    2. Who knows what motivations Tamm has in exposing the illegal wiretapping efforts? If you think he did it for a book deal and Oprah and all of that, you should really try to go beyond the rhetoric spilled out of people's mouths. This guy did not do himself a favor by exposing this sht. He could have kept quiet and everything would have been just fine.

    3. The first world trade center attack was in 1993. It was a very long time between attacks, and Bush was not protecting us then. So I am not going to give him much credit for the fact there have been no more attacks on American soil. In fact, as common sense would dictate, his bad judgement created more fertile ground for terror recruitment.

    So no, I feel less safe with Bush in power.

    Do I blame Bush for everything? No, I do not believe he is responsible for the atacks, and he was in power at a bad time for our country. But his tough talk and arrogance/pride whatever you call it, 'sticking to his guns" for so long really hurt this country.

    It took him six years before finally realizing you have to get closer to your enemies than your friends. After all of the mistakes, and allowing Cheney and crew to control policy, Bush finally got the confidence with the help of people like C Rice to start to look like somebody who knew what he was doing. It was 6 years and a fully divided country too late.

    So no, i do not feel safer with the Bush admin in office, just the opposite. I have to respect my bosses in the work place. You nkow a good leader, not by what they say, but by thier good judgement, and Bush had too many terrible lacks of judgement.

    If America is a ship and Bush is the captain we have been ran aground and are staring at the rocks ahead.

    • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/17/2008 1:24:36 PM

      Hi whatis-you are here after all... I thought I saw you somewhere below...just wanted to say "hello"....carry on.

      • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 1:49:45 PM

        Hi sweetie:)

        • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 2:27:34 PM

          See you around:)

          • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/17/2008 2:40:20 PM

            whatis- I'm back, nothing interesting going on anywhere else on this site and I'm on lunch break! So, tell me, do you think the President broke the law with his wiretapping? Suppose there was proof that there was going to be a terror attack and the information from the wiretapping stopped it? Would that make a difference in this case?

            • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 2:57:49 PM

              It was a very wide net. The FISA court was put in place as those checks and balances and the BUSH admin used terrorism to collect millions of Americans calls and internet communications. How nice the government can trample over our constitutional rights when they deem it appropriate.

              I bet Bin Laden is laughing to himself, " i caused stupid bush to eavesdrop on americans".

              We can still win without torture or raping our constitution. Just because the Bush admin does not have the capacity to understand that, or the spine,it does not mean we should accept it.

              There is no excuse, absolutley none. They spied on ordinary americans have colllected tons of information, and I do not trust them with it at all. How many innocent people were taken away by this administration and tortured. These guys Bush's are to incompetent to have that kind of power.

        • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/17/2008 2:00:38 PM

          Hi whatis. Where has whatis been?! I'm leaving this article for good, it's too meanspirited. I don't think you belong here either. Bye..

  • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 2:40:13 PM

    The guy exposed illegal operations put in place by the Bush admin circumventing the court oversight put in place tp protect our rights. Whether you like the guy, think he is a hero, or a heel, he exposed something that absolutley needed to be exposed.

    Just like torture needed to be exposed. Cheney going over to the dark side, remember? Just because they act tough and use tough tactics does not mean they are wise, or really doing things in our best interests.

    There are a lot of really smart people with some very different agendas in our government. That sht should be exposed and understood for what it is.

    You cannot use terrorism as an excuse to undermine our contitutional rights. IF YOU DO, THEN THE TERRORISTS DO WIN. I know tha is hard for some to grasp...

    • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/17/2008 2:49:02 PM

      Your comments answered my question about wiretapping below.

  • Posted By: YashBudini @ 12/16/2008 11:03:09 PM

    "no one, neither he or Bush could have seen 9/11 coming without, say....

    Wiretapping?"

    Talk about far fetched, you've reached the conclusion that wire tapes are the reason there have been no other attacks? And why do you believe that? Who said this? Who even suggested this besides your imagination? And what of the people who have said that wiretaps and torture have gained us valuable info? Who are they? The ones who were sure where the WMD's were? The ones who said we'd be greeted with open arms? The ones that said this would be over with quick? The ones who said they would fire the person who leaked the name Valerie Plame?

    Actually it was the one who made billions for his company and then said to colleagues who questioned what was going on to "fxxk yourself."

    And there is also this:
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28180540/
    Bi-partisan support on this stance.

    • Posted By: Pocolodi @ 12/16/2008 11:17:02 PM

      Tell me wire taps couldn't have helped, especially since we know two of the terrorists made phone calls to Afghanistan just prior to the 9/11 attacks.

      And who the hell brought up Valerie Plame?

      • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 2:32:43 PM

        Wiretaps can be effective, but that is why there is a FISA court to oversee it. That is why we have checks and balances so abuses to our rights are protected from the government. The framers understood that and the FISA court is effective.

  • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/16/2008 8:44:43 PM

    Is Tamm a hero or a criminal? It depends on who you ask. Personally, I don't trust snitches.

    • Posted By: YashBudini @ 12/16/2008 8:51:48 PM

      And Scudder Libby should have gone to jail for not telling the truth, but the head criminal pardoned him.

      • Posted By: Pocolodi @ 12/16/2008 10:14:01 PM

        That's "Scooter." Laura Scudder makes potato chips. Ask Whatis... they're made in CA. Lol.

        • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 1:32:04 PM

          And not in El Paso:)

        • Posted By: YashBudini @ 12/16/2008 10:41:32 PM

          So you agree with the essence of the message - good to hear.

    • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 12/17/2008 9:16:24 AM

      Neither did Al Capone.

    • Posted By: Pocolodi @ 12/16/2008 9:17:49 PM

      Smart girl.

      • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/16/2008 9:23:08 PM

        Hello Pocolodi. I am not saying Mr. Tamm is a snitch. I am saying that if someone has taken an oath of loyalty they should honor it until death.

        • Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/16/2008 9:54:15 PM

          The question sometimes becomes whether a particular oath is greater than one's obligation to one's country or the Constitution. I don't know enough about Tamm to say, but I hope to God there are folks who are patriotic enough to speak out when wrong things are done. I also don't know enough about what the government is doing on survailance. But one can imagine that it can go farther than proper. That was the warning of George Orwell in 1984. Government propagandizes war, state security, enemies and threats to the point that personal privacy, choice and other liberties are lost. Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers which spelled out that the government had massibely lied to the public about the Viet Nam war. Nixon and others screamed he was a traitor and his crew broke into his psychiatrist's office. He was considered a traitor then, but I don't think he was, he was a patriot. His actions helped turn public sentiment against that war and exposed the systematic deceit. Don't know Tamm's particulars, but if we ever get to the point that helping the government take our liberties is a patriotic duty, then we're all in big trouble.

          • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/16/2008 10:05:23 PM

            Yes, all you say here makes sense. I'm having a problem taking sides here, so I will remain on the fence....if Tamm took an oath, as far as I'm concerned he had no right to have said anything unless there was something catastrophic coming....on the other hand, if the President broke the law, he committed a crime and then that's a different story.

            • Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/16/2008 10:43:29 PM

              Yeah, I don't know enough either. I don't think that an oath of loyalty to anyone or about anything should negate patriotic duties. Just swearing to secrecy a crew of electronics experts shouldn't be enough to deny us our right of privacy, for one thing. Where that line is from time to time is a tough call, particularly given the massive electronic capabilities there are, and the propensities this government has exercised to breach our Constitutional rights and protections from Nixon forward.

        • Posted By: Pocolodi @ 12/16/2008 9:39:29 PM

          I agree. It's as simple as that. If he were a reporter with facts he could verify, that would be a different story.

  • Posted By: whatisreal? @ 12/17/2008 1:26:21 PM

    When we say ths guy tipped off al qaida and helped them it is really ludicrous. Is that how narrow a vision people have of these terror groups? Please, it is not only insulting to thinking people, it is an incredible underestimation of our enemies.

    The only thing this guy did was exposing illegal wiretapping of American citizens without court oversight. And I for one definetly want oversight of the BUsh admin. Somebody needs to babysit them and keep them from steering us into the rocks and destroying our rights for good...

  • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/17/2008 1:10:45 PM

    Whatis, are you on this article today? Thought I caught a glimps of you.

  • Posted By: jacpues @ 12/17/2008 12:47:09 PM

    gwb is the one that needs to be investigated. Hopefully the new Administration and the new Congress will do our Country a great service and expose the Bush administration for it's audatious assalt on our Constitution.

  • Posted By: MaryMe @ 12/17/2008 12:29:59 PM

    Frankly, I am appalled that many of you believe that Mr. Tamm should be loyal to a President or administration that is breaking the law. FISA was set up with just this situation in mind. No one is above the Constitution or the law I think Mr. Tamm is a hero. It took conviction and courage to do what was right not what was expediant (looking the other way like many of your posts have suggested). We need several more in our government with Mr. Tamm's integrity and we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now both economically and politically.
    For all of you that suggested that Mr. Tamm should have gone to a superior with his qualms, please explain to me why you would trust those to correct an illegal situation when they are the very ones commiting the crime? Sometimes the media is the only recourse. Mr. Tamm's dilema doesn't say much for the integrity of our government does it? This administration has become the poster child of what not to do whem elected to political office!

  • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/17/2008 10:16:04 AM

    I hope that Mr. Tamm doesn't go the way of Scott McClellan and publish a book. If he does, that's it.. our questions answered.

  • Posted By: Mark_428 @ 12/17/2008 7:24:07 AM

    It is extraordinarily disengenuous for anyone inside the current administration or working for them to say anything disparaging about this man or to investigate him. Anyone that is in any way involved with wiretapping Americans and subverting the FISA courts has committed a crime and deserves the entire weight of the justice system upon them. How ironic that it is that Justice system where much of the problem exists. The only way any of these people can deflect the blame is to attempt to convince the public that Mr. Tamm somehow made their lot worse by exposing their illigal activities. As an Officer in the military, I am not bound to follow immoral or illegal orders. In the same respect, Mr. Tamm is not bound to engage in illegal activity and is duty bound by his oath to the constitution to report it. No elected or appointed official can be allowed to be above the law for any reason. Once we go down that road, we will never find our way back home.

  • Posted By: Martin Salazar @ 12/17/2008 6:31:46 AM

    Before any comments on this response please read the links especially my supporting memo to the courts for a new trial (which was denied without any given reason) Although Tamm is facing "possible prison time" I in fact am scheduled to report to prison on Jan. 29, 2009 for blowing the whistle. See my links below. The real issue is that I am "really" in fact innocent, and the truth and evidence was submitted to the Courts after the trial because the evidence was intentionally withheld by the government. However, I am a political prisoner and the system is working against me. See the support from numerous national groups but they to have no effect on the system. My case is reality of the government imprisoning whistle blowers.
    In God???s Love,
    Martin F. Salazar
    Please see and open the links below:
    http://martin-salazar.blogspot.com
    http://www.oscwatch.org/blog/
    http://martinsalazar.wolfdigital.net/MSPBreversal.pdf
    http://www.gopetition.com/online/19934.html
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrWMr076fpw
    http://www.youtube.com/user/NoFEARW3
    http://www.oscwatch.org/blog/2008/07/09/when-public-servants-become-enemies-of-the-state/
    http://www.aikenstandard.com:80/0729Salazar
    http://www.smirking***/thread/14639
    http://www.aikenstandard.com/0801Local-news-in-brief
    http://www.fedhallofshame.com/
    http://whistleblowersupport.blogstream.com/v1/pid/330403_Whistleblower-Groups-Support-Former-DOE-Employee.htmlhttp://whistleblowersupport.blogstream.com/emailBlog.mod?PID=326275
    http://www.blogtalkradio.com/themarshacolemanadebayoshow/2007/10/09/the-marsha-coleman-adebayo-show

  • Posted By: Martin Salazar @ 12/17/2008 6:29:20 AM

    Although Tamm is facing "possible prison time" I in fact am scheduled to report to prison on Jan. 29, 2009 for blowing the whistle. See my links below. The real issue is that I am "really" in fact innocent, and the truth and evidence was submitted to the Courts after the trial because the evidence was intentionally withheld by the government. However, I am a political prisoner and the system is working against me. See the support from numerous national groups but they to have no effect on the system. My case is reality of the government imprisoning whistle blowers.
    In God???s Love,
    Martin F. Salazar
    Please see and open the links below:
    http://martin-salazar.blogspot.com
    http://www.oscwatch.org/blog/
    http://martinsalazar.wolfdigital.net/MSPBreversal.pdf
    http://www.gopetition.com/online/19934.html
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrWMr076fpw
    http://www.youtube.com/user/NoFEARW3
    http://www.oscwatch.org/blog/2008/07/09/when-public-servants-become-enemies-of-the-state/
    http://www.aikenstandard.com:80/0729Salazar
    http://www.smirking***/thread/14639
    http://www.aikenstandard.com/0801Local-news-in-brief
    http://www.fedhallofshame.com/
    http://whistleblowersupport.blogstream.com/v1/pid/330403_Whistleblower-Groups-Support-Former-DOE-Employee.htmlhttp://whistleblowersupport.blogstream.com/emailBlog.mod?PID=326275
    http://www.blogtalkradio.com/themarshacolemanadebayoshow/2007/10/09/the-marsha-coleman-adebayo-show

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