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Telecom Immunity? - I Don't Think So!
Author: m-hadley
Date: 06/22/2008 12:31:12
Good Sunday Morning Everybody,
Well, I had planned to blog this morning on the recently released report by the Physicians for Human Rights, Broken Laws, Broken Lives, but it makes for grim reading and it, not unlike Scotty McClellan's book, does nothing more than confirms what we have suspected all along, and this time it does it in such gruesome detail that I thought simply directing folks to the report (I think the 18 page executive summary gives one enough ammunition to write any congress person or argue with any right winger who wants to take the position that "America doesn't torture.")
But as you can surmise from that introduction there is another issue on my mind this morning and it is CONGRESS and why they have largely turned out to be such disappointments (with the obvious exceptions of Dennis Kucinich, Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, and a few others who have managed to show some spine). I think that it gets back to an observation that both Keith Olbermann and Dan Abrams made on Thursday evening - the night before the House of Representatives capitulated and voted for a "compromise" that essentially provides retroactive immunity for all of the telecom companies that broke the law at the behest of the Bush/Cheney administration and participated in large-scale warrantless spying on Americans. The observation made by Olbermann and Abrams was that the Congress is merely covering their own collective ass as they were as complicit in undermining the FISA laws as the Bush/Cheney administration. I don't believe knowing about a crime and not acting to stop it is as bad as committing a crime, but it is a crime nonetheless, and that is apparently that crime that has Congress's guilty conscience stopping them from doing the right thing and casting a vote that does not give retroactive immunity to companies who broke the law. Chris Lavoie has said several times on the SMS that companies should not have more or better rights than people, but there is the rub - corporations are people in the eyes of the law.
Here’s a copy of the legislation on which our representatives voted. The vote in the House was 293-129. Unfortunately our fearless leader Senator Barack Obama had this to say about this sorry piece of legislation:
Makes me wonder what bill he was reading? Your job, should you chose to accept it, is to contact both of your senators tomorrow and Tuesday and Wednesday (until this bill reaches the Senate floor for a vote) and tell them that in a free society, to have the government grant retroactive immunity to corporations that have clearly broken the law and grant unprecedented powers to an already out-of-control executive branch is not only unacceptable, but also is likely unconstitutional. If you'd like some talking points I highly recommend the good old ACLU's site:
You might also want to copy Senator Obama on any e-mails or letters that you send as apparently he needs a few reminders from those of us who are now funding his campaign about the kind of representation that we expect from our leaders. Now go get 'em...
Cheers,
mfaye
Well, I had planned to blog this morning on the recently released report by the Physicians for Human Rights, Broken Laws, Broken Lives, but it makes for grim reading and it, not unlike Scotty McClellan's book, does nothing more than confirms what we have suspected all along, and this time it does it in such gruesome detail that I thought simply directing folks to the report (I think the 18 page executive summary gives one enough ammunition to write any congress person or argue with any right winger who wants to take the position that "America doesn't torture.")
But as you can surmise from that introduction there is another issue on my mind this morning and it is CONGRESS and why they have largely turned out to be such disappointments (with the obvious exceptions of Dennis Kucinich, Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, and a few others who have managed to show some spine). I think that it gets back to an observation that both Keith Olbermann and Dan Abrams made on Thursday evening - the night before the House of Representatives capitulated and voted for a "compromise" that essentially provides retroactive immunity for all of the telecom companies that broke the law at the behest of the Bush/Cheney administration and participated in large-scale warrantless spying on Americans. The observation made by Olbermann and Abrams was that the Congress is merely covering their own collective ass as they were as complicit in undermining the FISA laws as the Bush/Cheney administration. I don't believe knowing about a crime and not acting to stop it is as bad as committing a crime, but it is a crime nonetheless, and that is apparently that crime that has Congress's guilty conscience stopping them from doing the right thing and casting a vote that does not give retroactive immunity to companies who broke the law. Chris Lavoie has said several times on the SMS that companies should not have more or better rights than people, but there is the rub - corporations are people in the eyes of the law.
Here’s a copy of the legislation on which our representatives voted. The vote in the House was 293-129. Unfortunately our fearless leader Senator Barack Obama had this to say about this sorry piece of legislation:
"Under this compromise legislation, an important tool in the fight against terrorism will continue, but the President's illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance -- making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people. It also firmly re-establishes basic judicial oversight over all domestic surveillance in the future. It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses. But this compromise guarantees a thorough review by the Inspectors General of our national security agencies to determine what took place in the past, and ensures that there will be accountability going forward. By demanding oversight and accountability, a grassroots movement of Americans has helped yield a bill that is far better than the Protect America Act.
"It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives -- and the liberty -- of the American people."
Makes me wonder what bill he was reading? Your job, should you chose to accept it, is to contact both of your senators tomorrow and Tuesday and Wednesday (until this bill reaches the Senate floor for a vote) and tell them that in a free society, to have the government grant retroactive immunity to corporations that have clearly broken the law and grant unprecedented powers to an already out-of-control executive branch is not only unacceptable, but also is likely unconstitutional. If you'd like some talking points I highly recommend the good old ACLU's site:
Following a vote in the House of Representatives sanctioning warrantless wiretapping and handing immunity to telecommunications companies for their role in domestic spying, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed outrage at representatives who voted for the unconstitutional legislation. The bill, H.R. 6304, or The FISA Amendments Act of 2008, passed the chamber by a vote of 293-129, and is expected to be voted on in the Senate next week.
You might also want to copy Senator Obama on any e-mails or letters that you send as apparently he needs a few reminders from those of us who are now funding his campaign about the kind of representation that we expect from our leaders. Now go get 'em...
Cheers,
mfaye
