 |
Say No To FISA “Compromises” |
 |
Why are Democrats trying to compromise on FISA? Glenn Greenwald:
It is now definitively clear that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is the driving force behind a bill — written by GOP Sen. Kit Bond — to vest the President with vast new warrantless eavesdropping powers and to vest lawbreaking telecoms with amnesty. Even as his office dishonestly denies that he is doing so, still more reports yesterday – this one from the NYTand this one from Roll Call (sub req’d) — confirm that a so-called “compromise” is being spearheaded by Hoyer and the House Democratic leadership. The ACLU and EFF are holding a joint call tomorrow to denounce Hoyer’s “compromise” as nothing more than disguised guaranteed immunity for telecoms and, further, because “the proposed deal could be used to authorize dragnet surveillance of Americans’ communications in violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
The “compromise†that Kit crafted has a federal district court deciding questions of retroactive telecom immunity—however, the court would be required to decide the matter based on a presidential “certification†that telcos were told that the spying was legal.
No real public hearing, no evidence read into the public record, just a piece of paper with George Bush’s John Hancock saying “trust us.†It guarantees the lawbreakers—public and private—will get off scot free, and allows the Bush Administration to say it was all legal “because we said so.†It neither helps expose past transgressions nor constrains future ones.
This won’t stand. This is no compromise, it’s unilateral disarmament. Democrats are prepared to hand Bush a bill that will guarantee citizens will never know the extent of Bush’s illegal spying program and the telecom’s cooperation with the administration.
Blue America is raising money to hold these collaborators accountable. As they say:
After Dick Gephart betrayed the majority of House Democrats and plotted with Bush, Cheney and some Blue Dogs to thwart the will of the majority and rubber stamp Bush’s decision to attack and occupy Iraq, he was forced out of his role as Democratic Leader. Steny Hoyer deserves the exact same fate.
If you have a few dollars you can contribute for the Constitution, please donate!
Why are we paying to have congress do what it is suppose to do? Just who are we donating to? And for what?
Are we bribing someone?
So it’s come down to this?
Sad, so sad.