Another dark day in history as the Democrats, or their new name should be the "Fraidycrats", cower in fear and give W and Dick what they want, immunity to the giant corporations of the telecom industry for illegally spying on Americans.
This assault on our freedom passed by 293 to 129 vote, W praised the bill which now ends the month long stand off between lovers of freedom and those who think giving away our freedom will get them elected. The only chance to stop the bill lies within the Senate which will most certainly cave in and pass this flawed legislation.
W and Dick have been spying on American telephone and computer lines even before 9/11 without permission from the FISA Court. The 40 lawsuits that have been filed against the telecom giants will most certainly be thrown out of court now.
The compromise bill directs a federal district court to review certifications from the attorney general saying the telecommunications companies received presidential orders telling them wiretaps were needed to detect or prevent a terrorist attack. If the paperwork were deemed in order, the judge would dismiss the lawsuit.
Even some Republicans oppose the compromise, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned the immunity deal saying, that nothing in the new bill would prevent the government from wiretapping domestic phone and computer lines without court permission.
Specter said the problem is constitutional: The White House may still assert that the president's Article II powers as commander in chief supersede statutes that would limit him actions. "Only the courts can decide that issue and this proposal dodges it," Specter said.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California disputed that, saying FISA would from now on be the authority for the government to conduct electronic surveillance. "There is no inherent authority of the president to do whatever he wants. This is a democracy, not a monarchy," she said.
The ACLU and some privacy groups oppose the bill objecting not only the immunity provision but by weakening of the FISA Courts oversight of W's spying. The government already had the authority to initiate a wiretap without court permission. It had a week to file the request after the fact and the court had 30 days to approve it all the while you could still listen in and gather intelligence.
Now W will commit mass untargeted surveillance. Big brother is truly watching us now.
To all Americans who value truth and freedom, like Morpheus offered Neo in the Matrix you can take the blue pill of complacency and go back and carry on let the powers that be cover your eyes with lies. Or you can take the red pill of activism and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes. All I offer is the truth nothing more.
Peace and Liberty through intelligence, strength, and integrity.
