Deputy Attorney General feared for his life from Bush:

Jane Mayer's The Dark Side

Paranoia is justified. It turns out that even Bush's own deputy attorney general James Comey and another Bush attorney feared for their lives while discussing domestic surveillance. That is according to Jane Mayer in her just published book, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals.

"They were so paranoid by then about the powerful backlash they had provoked inside the administration that they actually thought they might be in physical danger. Goldsmith and Comey, who knew more about the domestic surveillance program than practically anyone else in America, also feared that their communications were being monitored. To foil possible surveillance, they talked in codes." (p. 294)

The book describes how Bush, Cheney & Addington justified keeping wraps on a surveillance program to the rest of the administration.

We should imagine that if the Bush administration's own conservative lawyers were afraid, then the rest of us should be too and not listen to anyone who thinks it is a joke.

It is now election campaign season for 2008. There does not appear to be any basis for a change. After such an administration McCain has both Bush and Cheney scheduled for speaking at the Republican convention to nominate McCain. As we write this, McCain is campaigning with Tom Ridge in Pennsylvania.(1) Ridge was a head of "Homeland Security" under Bush.

Not to be outdone, Senator Obama's party co-sponsored the "Patriot Act." Obama caved in on retroactive immunity for telecom companies involved in spying on Amerikans. Obama's pro-Democratic Party stalwarts have a long history of opposing MIM comrades. They have carried out a range of activities against MIM including death threats, while sometimes speaking honeyed words. In contrast, ex-MIM defended Obama when New Hampshire voters went for Hillary Clinton's crying game. Ex-MIM also tamped down on rumors about Obama.

If Comey and Goldsmith were afraid, we can be sure ex-MIM and other progressive people that are actually independent of the government live in difficult times.

Notes:
1. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08/mccain-and-vp-c.html