When it comes to protecting civil liberties the Republican Party is a lost cause. Unfortunately the Democratic Party has its share of fascist-apologists as well and Senator Evan Bayh is the leader of the pack. On Thursday, Bayh joined 11 other Democratic senators to kill the Judiciary committee's FISA bill that would've revamped FISA to protect our civil liberties while holding the Bush administration, and their telecom cronies, accountable for engaging in warrantless wiretapping that violated the United States Constitution.
So what is the President's (and presumably Bayh's) rational for providing retroactive immunity for these telecom companies? Well they were simply being patriots in the wake of 9/11 of course. First let me say that is total bullshit. The Bush administration was working on their warrantless wiretapping program well before 9/11. Second, the constitution was not suspended after 9/11 and the last time I checked we were supposed to be a country that believed in the rule of law.
Just because the President asks you to violate the law doesn't make it okay for you to do so. And for the United States Congress to willingly subvert the rule of law and forgive anyone that violated our civil liberties - well that's a national disgrace. And we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the Bush administration won't even tell Congress what it is they're providing immunity for. So much for oversight.
I can't stomach the thought of a Bayh vice-presidency...
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4 comments:
I agree with you 100%.
I am disappointed that so many Democratic Senators "caved" on this one.
A ticket with Hillary and Bayh would be a tocket that I would never, ever, consieer voting for.
Mike Sylvester
"Civil liberties" must apply sometimes when we want them to be but in other cases not so much.
We should not monitor communications with and by foreign nationals (even though this practice has existed since the NSA was formed for that purpose in 1952) but it is acceptable to deliberately discriminate in favor of minorities under numerous Civil Rights acts even though such actions are constitutionally verboten.
I will try not to get confused the next time I am tempted to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater.
I will also try to control my temper waiting to be searched in airport security lines.
Funny but that NSA monitoring has never inconvenienced me or imposed on my "civil liberties" but I may be safer as a result.
Ah yes, the old "I have nothing to hide" mantra as an excuse for allowing big brother to do as he pleases. Nobody is saying we can't spy on foreign nations - that's a strawman argument that doesn't apply (as are your other examples). We're talking about spying on American citizens without a warrant.
I believe in the Constitution and all of its amendments. The government is required to get a warrant last time I read the document and just because the Bush Administration told the telecom companies it doesn't apply to them doesn't make it right.
Why Republicans make excuses for this kind of encroachment on our civil liberties is beyond me. Is there anything that trumps the fear of terrorism? Is this country not founded on the idea of freedom and liberty?
If the NSA illegally spying on you somehow makes you feel safe then more power to you I suppose. But the government's willingness to selectively ignore portions of the constitution is the real scary scenario as far as I'm concerned...
My hope is to kill FISA all together. The government should have to obtain a warrant from a public court, not a secret one to spy.
I want to catch terrorists the same as everyone else but not at the expense of my or anyone else's civil liberties.
But I am still dismayed at Senator Bayh for allowing telecom companies that participated in an illegal act, off the hook.
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