May I introduce..Mayor Tom Potter... he gots ballz!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Yep, I voted for him!

March 31, 2005
Portland Delay's Task Force Pullout Action


By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER
Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. - After four hours of often-passionate testimony, the City Council delayed voting on a motion Wednesday night that could have pulled the city out of an anti-terrorism FBI task force.

The FBI appeared to soften its stance {backpedal, backpedal!} on the prickly question of security clearances for Mayor Tom Potter and Police Chief Derrick Foxworth, who want the same level of clearance as the two Portland police officers assigned to the task force.

The motion would have removed Portland from the Joint Terrorism Task Force in 90 days if an agreement could not be reached, making it the first city nationwide to do so.

Potter made the motion for the delay, saying that negotiations with the FBI were at a critical juncture and three weeks would give the city time to see if an amicable resolution to the dispute could be reached.

"I would like Portland to be known as a city that listens and acts - and I think that our next stage is to listen. And then act," he told the standing-room only crowd in City Hall.
"I don't feel this in any way obligates us to do what the FBI wants us to," Potter added. "I've always felt it was important to do what my conscious dictates."

more at link>
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=76144

The FBI needs to understand - We in Portland will not tolerate losing our civil rights.

[SCDem]

1. Wow!

That's rediculous that the FBI is giving clearance to two police officers but no one else in the city. So if some major disaster hits not even the leader of the city or the leader of the damn police force get to be in the "inner circle". :banghead:

And because it's making news obviously other cities have OKed the FBI plan and not insisted on more.

[gratuitous]

2. SOP for these joint terrorism task forces

The FBI wants to coordinate with a couple of locals in each large city, ostensibly so that they can get a better handle on who's really a terrorist and who isn't one. It's a nice idea on paper.

However, in the real world, it tends to provide cover for abuses, as each side points at the yahoos on the other side when something goes wrong, either because someone got antsy and moved too soon, or someone got antsy and moved against an innocent person, or everyone thought someone else was going to follow up on something or other, and the Bad Thing happened.

Potter (for whom I also voted) wants some civilian oversight of what's going on, and given the credibility problems the U.S. intelligence community has developed over the years, I'd say it's a really good idea. At first, the FBI said that any involvement by local elected officials was a dealbreaker. Now, they're in negotiations. Huh. Maybe it wasn't such a dealbreaker after all?

The FBI has also put out conflicting messages, saying first that the information and tactics of the joint terrorism task force was far too sensitive to be entrusted to local elected officials, and implying that Portland is run by a bunch of hacks (and maybe it is, but those hacks still have to stand for election every four years).

When that excuse didn't fly, they denigrated their own work, saying that it wasn't all that important anyway, and that the information they shared with local police was just your run-of-the-mill stuff you could glean from a particularly engaging episode of 24. That didn't sit well, either. Now, they're in negotiations.

I don't know if the joint terrorist task forces are a good idea or a bad idea, but there's the potential for a lot of mischief in just handing over investigating authority to the FBI without any checks or reviews. Mayor Potter has made a reasonable request for some oversight of what's going on in his city and among his citizenry, and the FBI doesn't have a good enough reason to refuse.

This march toward totalitarianism can be slowed, and maybe even stopped, but it will take some courage. When Potter first made this little dispute public, the city's daily newspaper and at least one TV station came out with a knee-jerk reaction that it was political meddling, and made some spurious noises about the "People's Republic of Portland." I haven't seen shit about that in the last couple of days, as Potter has stuck to his position.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. I saw those articles...

"When Potter first made this little dispute public, the city's daily newspaper and at least one TV station came out with a knee-jerk reaction that it was political meddling, and made some spurious noises about the "People's Republic of Portland."

A repug in my office was spouting those lines too, so I printed out some real news for her, like info on the Right-Left wing groups working together to make sure some parts of the Patriot act are allowed to expire.

She actually read it, and the fact that she didn't comment on this article this morning suggests she realizes I was right, or she would have come back with more talking points. sheesh.

I'm putting them all on notice - the next time I hear "that can't be right, it's not what they said on the news" I am going to fire them all! Okay maybe not. But I will threaten!