The Magic of Myths

It is hard to know what exactly to post about on the day that the Senate gave the Bush administration and the telecom industry free reign to shit about the 4th amendment. But who am I to complain? I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway—Ma Bell feel free to listen in! Interject a comment even, maybe you will have some luck convincing the step-spawn that she might need to get a job in order to pay her bills. (Unless of course she has discovered the mythical money tree, in which case, can I have a graft to grow my own . . .)

I guess it is obvious that I am not pleased with this decision, but neither the Democrats or the Republicans are interested in what you or I think about this issue. The Dems are trying to stave off criticism going into the elections this fall and the GOP is in full CYA mode because they know what Dubya and his cronies have done is wrong, wrong, wrong.

I need to go lie somewhere peaceful now and think of happy thoughts, moonbeams and unicorns and the 4th amendment, and that damn money tree, that would make everything better . . . 

TeleCON

I am not a fan of the latest FISA bill that Congress is pushing forward. And I am most disappointed in Obama's decision to back the bill. 

Chris Dodd (aided by Russ Feingold) has been tireless in his efforts to stave this monstrosity off but I am afraid he is just a modern Sisyphus about to be crushed. I mean when you have the likes of Steny Hoyer, one of my personal faves in the political arena (see why here, here, and here) has argued that the Democrats made the wise move by voting for the FISA changes, because it takes it off the table as an election issue for November.

My understanding of the bill is probably somewhat limited, admittedly, but what I object strongly to is the immunity it is giving the telecoms for whatever snooping they have done (and bear in mind this is retrograde so this is definitely a CYA moment for Ma Bell, etc.), as well as the way the bill eviscerates the 4th Amendment.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In his speech on the Senate floor last night, Dodd put the bill in its proper place, linking it to the ongoing, and not expected behavior of the Bush Administration, ignoring the Constitution at will and making laws up to cover their ass as they go along.

Obama has said that he is against the retroactive immunity and will fight to have it removed, but overall he is cool with the bill. He says it is a marked improvement over the Protect America Act proposed last year, and hopefully it is. And despite Obama saying this:

"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."

I like Obama, obviously, but power does strange things to people and I am not much comforted by these assurances.

But getting back to Hoyer's point, the husband on a somewhat different line of thinking feels that it is a good thing that Obama is going along with this, which should another attack on U.S. soil or citizens happen, the GOP won't be able to come back and shove the Democrats noses in it during the election. While I see his point, I don't doubt the Republicans ability to distort anything to suit their agenda. I mean when you have a Charlie Black, senior advisor to McCain, say that another terrorist attack (before the election) would help get the Arizona senator in the Oval Office it isn't a big leap to think that the GOP wouldn't LOVE to use something like that against Obama and the Democrats.

Brass Balls

WOW! The Democrats in the House might have actually grown a set. Instead of voting on the Protect America Act extension of FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), which gives immunity to the telecoms for spying on us, they tried to hoodwink the Republicans by bringing up citations of contempt of Congress for Josh Bolton and Harriet Miers. The whiny-ass House Republicans walked out in a snit fit. Now Congress is set for a week-or-so long holiday recess and the bill will lapse. Teehee.

Dubya has his panties all in a twist about this. Even tried to do the daddy smack down and say he would postpone his upcoming trip to Africa if it would "help" the House resolve this issue. Please! Although the people of Africa were probably like, 'Please God yes, keep your brand of crazy away from us, we have enough problems right now.' As with most of Bush's statements it was bullshit, he's going to Africa, the bill will languish until Congress is back in session and of course if we are hit by terrorists in the meantime the GOP will have a field day exclaiming that it is the Democrats fault b/c they didn't allow AT&T to listen in on average Americans talking on the phone about their butt lint and hang nails.

GOOD GOD PEOPLE! I hate to be a downer, but realistically, no matter what we do or how invasive we allow our government to become there will be another terrorist attack. That is the nature of our world today. I am not saying that we shouldn't try to stop that from happening, but again, letting Verizon sell out some teenager's cell phone calls about trips to the mall to Dubya and the boys isn't going to stop that.

In other news, I have to give a shout out to Keith Olbermann from MSNBC. Talk about having balls. Bless my poor husband's heart, because last night Olbermann did one of his special commentaries about this whole FISA/spying fiasco and dang if it didn't get me hot. (Yes, I am weird like that.)

Here is an excerpt from the conclusion of his comment (click here to read or hear the message yourself, it's very stirring and impassioned):

"We will not fear any longer. We will not fear the international terrorists, and we will thwart them. We will not fear the recognition of the manipulation of our yearning for safety, and we will call it what it is: terrorism. We will not fear identifying the vulgar hypocrites in our government, and we will name them. And we will not fear George W. Bush. Nor will we fear because George W. Bush wants us to fear."

And I end how I started: WOW!

Somebody's Watching Me

Remember that song from the '80s by Rockwell? "I always feel like somebody's watching me . . ." with the non-scary Michael Jackson singing backup? Well that song is more true than ever.

Today, the so-called Democratic-led Senate has allowed the FISA bill to pass that would give immunity to the telecom companies for the warrantless spying the Bush Administration had them do since September 11. In addition, this bill will make it legal to continue this behavior moving forward. For more, read here.

Maybe you think this this doesn't matter, because you have nothing to hide. It doesn't matter if you are talking to your mother about grandma's cornbread recipe or texting a friend about your weekend plans—our government has NO RIGHT to read or listen in on your private conversations without taking the appropriate legal action to do so, showing that they have a reason to believe that grandma's cornbread is bad for America and not just because it raises your cholesterol.

Now you can do something about this. A writer from Salon, Glenn Greewald, is the co-creator/sponsor of a petition to the House to ask them to not vote for the Senate's bill, but rather to push through the Restore Act, a bill that provides privacy safeguards against the kind of invasive techniques Bush and his cronies feed on.

Go here to sign and find out more. People, the time has come—if you can't sign a bloody petition to protect your ability to have a private conversation there is no helping you.