Nov. 30, 2005 - 21:36 MST

REVERSE MEANING?

A miasma of words befouls the land, at least to my way of thinking they do. An article in the Eugene Register-Guard this morning points it up a bit. It is by Mark Sherman of The Associated Press. Here in part:

OFFICIALS DEFEND NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS

WASHINGTON -- �The Justice Department issued a broad defense Tuesday of an investigative tool used by the FBI to compel businesses to turn over customer information without a court order or grand jury subpoena.�

�NSLs which can be used in terrorism and espionage investigations, require telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their customers or subscribers.�

�Questions about the use of National Security Letters have become caught up in the debate over renewal of the-antiterrorism Patriot Act, which has been delayed by ideologically diverse lawmakers who want to ensure that thee are checks on investigative powers. More that a dozen provisions of the law, which was passed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, expire at the end of the year.�

�While most information about the letters is classified, including the number of times they have been used, Assistant Attorney General William Moschella sent the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees a 10-page letter rebutting criticisms aired in an article three weeks ago in The Washington Post . The article, citing sources, said the FBI issues more than 30,000 NSLs a year, up from a few hundred before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Moschella said the number was among several �erroneous claims� in the article. He offered no alternatives.�

Justice Department officials previously gave lawmakers closed-door briefings on the security letters, where they shared the number.�

�Also false, according to Moschella , is the claim that the FBI uses NSLs to spy on law-abiding Americans.�

BUT HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT SOME PEOPLE WHOSE RECORDS ARE PRODUCED �MAY NOT BE TERRORISTS OR SPIES OR ASSOCIATED WITH TERRORISTS OR SPIES. �

Leonard Downie Jr., executive editor of the Post, said Moschella�s letter �does not document any inaccuracies in our story on national security letters, which revealed the widespread use and limited oversight of this investigative tool. The letter relies on words like �implies and �insinuates� to assert claims the story does not make. THE STORY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

�A tentative agreement between House and Senate negotiators to renew the Patriot Act contains several provisions involving NSLs, including requirements that the Justice Department report on the number of NSLs and that recipients be allowed to consult a lawyer.�

�The Bush administration contends that such consultations is allowed, citing at least two court challenges to NSLs. However, in a letter obtained by the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI prohibits the recipient �from disclosing to any person that the FBI has sought or obtained access to information or records under these provisions.�

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�He offered no alternative,� guess his denial is expected to be accepted by everyone, is just one act of the Smoke and Mirrors Grand Guiginol being put on by our administration.

Case in point: �The Bush administration contends that such consultation is allowed,� as opposed to, �in a letter obtained by the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI prohibits the recipient from �disclosing to any person that the FBI has sought or obtained access to information or records under these provisions.� So to my way of thinking if a business got one of those Dear Johns it would be illegal for it to even try to put forth a case before the court.

Words, more words, damn words all spurted forth with a sincere expression I suppose, but really to those words, is there a REVERSE MEANING? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .