The FISA Amendments Act — S. 2248 — is being debated on the Senate floor at the moment. This illegal, anti-democratic piece of legislation gives retroactive immunity to telecom companies who carried out the Bush administration’s illegal wiretapping, and copied the activities of autocratic regimes around the world.
This legislation is much admired by the people who have misgivings about civil rights and who think that in America it is just fine for us all to have every phone call monitored without a warrant. Weasel voices will say, "If you haven’t done anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to worry about." Sounds disturbingly like a quote from a German in the 1930s. I wish Americans knew some history!
If you care about your civil liberties, your right not to be spied on without warning or accountability, then check it out and take part at http://www.StopTheSpying.org. Retroactive immunity for the telecom companies is really just a roundabout way of granting retroactive immunity to the Bush administration. It would effectively pull the plug on litigation that promises to shed light on the extent of the administration’s lawbreaking, and would set a dangerous precedent.
Epicurus was a democrat. The reason he retired to his garden was in disgust with just the sort of illegal procedure we are discussing here. The only difference is that today we have the technology to spy en masses, and in his day they didn’t.
Sources: http://www.stopthespying.org and Media Matters http://mediamatters.org/items/200801240006
This is un-American, this bill. The worrying thing is that, were this a Democratic Presidential initiative the usual right-wingers would be assaulting it, and they wold be right to do so. But because it is Bush……Go figure.
Has Bush kept Americans safe since 9/11 or not?
There is no “War on Terror”. This is a fabrication and at best a hysterical reaction to a single (horrible) attack. In other countries the terrorist threat is much greater, but the population approach it in a calmer way. I know. I lived through years of Northern Irish terrorism funded by Irish-Americans and had 35 soldiers blown up 300 yards from my house. The fight against this kind of thing has to be clever, devious and secret. Publicity posturing does not help. It simply increases fear.
Is America “safe” from infantile political questions? Oh yes, very “safe.” Did the people in New Orleans feel very “safe?” Are Americans sure that their 401-K’s are very “safe?” Is America’s reputation for upholding the rule of law very “safe?” Is America’s moral capital regarding legal due process “safer” than ever? The American citizen’s freedom from illegal government surveillance is very “safe,” right? And, above all, is the maturity of America’s political discourse “safe?.” THOSE are the questions worth asking.