Bush Administration Would Have F.B.I. Be Big Brother

The ghost of J. Edgar Hoover has raised it's ugly head in the form of George W. Bush. As part of his legacy, Dubya wants to make legal activities of the FBI make illegal in the 1970s. The plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a file on any American without any clear basis for suspicion. That is what J. Edgar was infamous for. He created files on anyone who he considered a security problem. This included citizens, political writers, commentators, and peaceful protesters as well as members of Congress. He used his files to protect his political interests sometimes at the expense of the average American.
Wikipedia

John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 - May 2, 1972), generally known as J. Edgar Hoover, was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation--predecessor to the FBI--in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972. Hoover is credited with building the FBI into a large and efficient crime-fighting agency, and with instituting a number of modern innovations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories. During his life, Hoover was highly regarded by much of the U.S. public, but throughout his career and after his death he became an increasingly controversial figure. His many critics assert that he abused his power and exceeded the jurisdiction of the FBI. He is known to have used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to have amassed secret files on political leaders and to have used illegal methods to collect evidence. It is because of Hoover's long and controversial reign that FBI directors are now limited to 10-year terms.

Bush hopes to remove most if not all of the restrictions imposed on the FBI after it's miss use was exposed in Congress. Legal protections of our civil liberties are necessary. They have been exploited for political gain sometimes harming innocent citizens whenever they have not been forbidden. We have seen this administration routinely use the excuse of "national security" just to cover up it's own illegal activities.
That must stop. This measure must be stopped. Let us hope the wimpy responses of this Congress can be amended.
NYTimes.com

Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.
The plan, which could be made public next month, has already generated intense interest and speculation. Little is known about its precise language, but civil liberties advocates say they fear it could give the government even broader license to open terrorism investigations.
Congressional staff members got a glimpse of some of the details in closed briefings this month, and four Democratic senators told Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey in a letter on Wednesday that they were troubled by what they heard.
The senators said the new guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps "without any basis for suspicion." The plan "might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities," the letter said. It was signed by Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
As the end of the Bush administration nears, the White House has been seeking to formalize in law and regulation some of the aggressive counterterrorism steps it has already taken in practice since the Sept. 11 attacks.