Current Mood: amused

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Current Mood: angry

Those who have sanctioned or been indifferent to Bush lawbreaking have no grounds to feign outrage over the latest torture revelations.

Current Mood: aggravated

Joan Walsh: Betrayed by Obama

[...] I've admired Obama, but I never confused him with a genuine progressive leader. Today I don't admire him at all. His collapse on FISA is unforgivable. The only thing Obama has going for him this week is that McCain is matching him misstep for misstep. While we're railing about Obama's craven vote on FISA -- rightfully; Glenn Greenwald is a hero for his work on this topic -- McCain was outdoing Dick Cheney with neocon crazy talk, warning that Iran's test of nine old missiles we already knew they had increases the chances of a "second Holocaust." Every time I wonder whether I can ultimately vote for Obama in November, given all of his political cave-ins, McCain does something new to make sure I have to. [...]

Current Mood: angry

Snippet of email from ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, with an important FISA action you can take today:

[...] Cowed by the Bush administration's pre-election scare tactics, the Senate passed privacy-stealing FISA legislation undermining your Fourth Amendment rights.

It's outrageous, unconstitutional and un-American. That's why the ACLU is prepared to challenge this law the moment George Bush signs it -- and you can rest assured, they'll be meeting our lawyers in court.

Our lawsuit will send a powerful message to those in Congress who played it safe when they had the opportunity to defend the Constitution. You can join the ACLU in sending that message by signing on to our ad letting Congress know that if they won't stand up for freedom, you and the ACLU will.

We'll be taking out a full-page ad in a major national newspaper announcing our lawsuit and expressing our outrage at this abandonment of Constitutional principles. Our goal is to run an ad that contains the names of tens of thousands of Americans who believe in the Constitution and want Congress to hear us loud and clear: next time, stand up for our rights.

Click here to include your name in the ACLU's FISA newspaper ad. [...]

I don't know enough to be one. I would not have thought anyone would have standing to challenge the new version of FISA, and yet:

Senate Passes Unconstitutional Spying Bill And Grants Sweeping Immunity To Phone Companies
ACLU Announces Legal Challenge To Follow President’s Signature

[...] In advance of the president’s signature, the ACLU announced its plan to challenge the new law in court.

“This fight is not over. We intend to challenge this bill as soon as President Bush signs it into law,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The bill allows the warrantless and dragnet surveillance of Americans’ international telephone and email communications. It plainly violates the Fourth Amendment.” [...]

Current Mood: quixotic

Tell your representative: Just because the president says it’s legal doesn’t make it so!

Congress is about to let telecom companies off scot-free after they broke the law by supplying mountains of your personal information to the government without a warrant. You can stop this sham spying “compromise” from being rammed through both the Senate and House this week. But you’ve got to move fast.

( Read more... )

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Current Mood: quixotic

A New FISA Whistleblower

( Excerpt. Click headline for full story. )

Current Mood: busy

Finally, the House of Representatives has stood up to President Bush’s fear-mongering.

The Bush White House recently tried to bully the House of Representatives on an important bill that affects your privacy. With cries of “soft on terrorism,” they insisted that the House pass a bill giving immunity to telecommunications companies that handed over the phone and email records of innocent Americans without a warrant.

But House leaders refused to be steamrollered by Bush’s fear tactics.

Now the Bush administration is doing everything they can to force Congress to cave in to their demands. Tell the House to stand strong against such tactics. The truth is, the government has all the power its needs to keep us safe and this legislation is unnecessary and unconstitutional.

Join me and the ACLU and tell the House to put “Facts Over Fear.” Please sign the petition.

www.aclu.org/factoverfear

Current Mood: angry

Countdown Special Comment: On FISA and Telecom Immunity

( Excerpt. Click headline for full story. )