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Well, it's all over but the clean up
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FISA—essentially unchanged from the Bush Administration’s heavy-handed assault on personal privacy in the name of antiterrorism--looks like a done deal. The bill may be going to the House floor as early as today for a vote--it should hit the Senate floor by the middle of next week--and with it you can say goodbye to knowing your private phone calls are, well, private.
The battle over whether telcos should have immunity for their roles in warrantless wiretapping after the 9/11 attacks appears to have been won/lost (circle one, depending on your point of view). In any event it is, as one senator put it, a formality. Telcos get off the hook as soon as FISA passes. The circus has passed, only the clean up remains
But, in all honesty, as much as this broadening of some pretty tenuously defended extensions of governmental eavesdropping go, we’re not exactly looking at a 1984 scenario here, are we? And, bottom line, the telcos who are facing 40-plus civil suits for cooperating with the government because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time, deserve to get a pass on this one. There’s no doubt the country was on a war footing immediately after the terrorist attacks, the telcos would likely have faced more flack for denying access (see Qwest if you have any doubts).
This bill gives the telcos a get-out-of-jail-free card. They deserve it. That it’s simply a note—really—from the Attorney General certifying that they’re cooperating at the request of the government is something that may create some issues later. Let’s not look down the road too far on that one. --Jim
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | July 2, 2008 - 2:59pm
If only the British could have heard what John Hancock, James Madison, etc. was talking about before the Revolutionary War.
Posted by Anonymous | July 2, 2008 - 2:57pm
"The word 'security' is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment."
Posted by Anonymous | July 1, 2008 - 2:28pm
It is beyond tragic that we are so willing to surrender our hard fought freedom and liberty in the face a nameless fear. Never have the phases:"We have met the enemy and he is Us" and "Power corrupts; absolute power absolutely corrupts" been more true. Future generations will pay the price again for what we are so casually tossing aside and be bitterly disappointed as the come to understand the level of their parents lack of citizenship and patriotism.
Posted by Anonymous | July 1, 2008 - 1:30pm
Our forefathers would not believe what this country has turned into. They were states rights advocates with national oversight. Our national government is too big, too politically correct to be effective and the persons in Congress are only there to cover their tushes not represent their constituents.
Posted by Anonymous | June 21, 2008 - 10:09am
Spoken like a true idiot...I guess its ok to violate the law and turn your back on the Bill of Rights just because the President says so. It is easy to defend people's rights when the government isn't even trying to go around them but much harder when the old "national security" excuse is used. What is the point of pretending like we have rights when the government (with the help of the telcos) can violate them whenever they want since the country is always facing some level of threat?
Posted by Adam | June 20, 2008 - 2:16pm
I will NEVER vote for a democrat again. I'd prefer they were busy shredding documents for the Bush administration than passing this abortion of a bill, their action today is unjustifyable.
Bush has the worste approval rating in the history of approval ratings, a lot having to do with his disregard for the law. Now the dems are covering for him? This disgusting display of cowardice just evaporated any hope I had that anyone in congress cares for anything but their own interest.
Sorry Obama, I can't vote for you or anyone from your party, ever.
Posted by Dave Rusin | June 20, 2008 - 11:08am
I do not have a problem with this bill. I prefer that organizations that want to terrorize others, blow up buildings, kill innocent people, destroy America, etc. that their phone calls are not kept private.
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