To Senator Feinstein,(Concerning Upcoming FISA Vote In The Senate)

Senator Feinstein,

Never appease political bullies, President Bush admonished at the Israeli Knesset," MSNBC's Keith Olbermann opened. "Oddly, House Democrats chose to ignore him on the subject of dealing with him."

Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley sees a "very frightening bill" in a proposed "compromise," currently in the House, that would update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to effectively grant immunity from civil lawsuits to telecommunications companies that agreed to spy on their customers as part of the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, starting shortly (before) the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. If the White House asked a phone company to spy with its assurance that it was legal, the measure says, that's enough to dismiss a case.

Congressional Democrats, Turley went on, knew about surveillance and torture programs, but were politically unable to oppose them at the same time they were touting themselves to the public as defenders of civil liberties. The bill, he said, is part of a campaign of collusion between Congress and the Bush administration, immunizing not only the telecommunications companies, but the administration and any members of Congress, on either side of the aisle, that may have been involved.

"The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation," Senator Russ Feingold said today. "The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, which effectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged to have participated in the President’s illegal program, and which fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans at home.(Allowing courts to review the question of immunity is meaningless when the same legislation essentially requires the court to grant immunity.) (And under this bill, the government can still sweep up and keep the international communications of innocent Americans in the U.S. with no connection to suspected terrorists, with very few safeguards to protect against abuse of this power.) (Instead of cutting bad deals on both FISA and funding for the war in Iraq, Democrats should be standing up to the flawed and dangerous policies of this administration.")

"The Democrats never really were engaged in this," said Turley. "In fact, they repeatedly tried to cave in to the White House, only to be stopped by civil libertarians and bloggers."

"I think they're simply waiting to see if the public's interest will wane," he went on, referring to repeated attempts to float said legislation past the public. "This bill has quite literally no public value for citizens or civil liberties. It is reverse engineering, though the type of thing the Bush Administration's famous for, and now the Democrats are doing--that is, to change the law to conform to past conduct."

"It's what any criminal would love to do," Turley continued. "You rob a bank, go to the legislature, and change the law to say that robbing banks is lawful."

"People need to be very, very much aware of this bill," he charged. "What you're seeing in this bill is an evisceration of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. It is something that allows the President and the government to go into law-abiding homes, on their word alone--their suspicion alone--and to engage in warrantless surveillance.

("That's what the framers who drafted the Fourth Amendment wanted to prevent.")

Link:

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Turley_FISA_bill_is_evisceration_of_0619.html


*******

Corporate Democrats and Republicans are Ruining This Country !

Do Something Really Meaningful For Once For Our Country !

Appose The New FISA Bill !

And,Get Others In The Senate To Oppose It Too !

You Probably Won't Because Your A Corporate Bought And Payed For Democrat..

But,All I And Others Can Do Is Try And Get You Guys To Realize It Is NOT

A Good Thing To Give The 4th Amendment Of The Constitution Away Ever !

And,Especially To A Criminal Administration Like The Bush Administration And

Their Telecom Buddies !

Remember,As Stated above..

They Started This Illegal Wiretap Business BEFORE 9/11 ! !

All You Have To Do Is To:

Uphold The Constitution !

And,To

Uphold The Rule Of Law !

Didn't You Swear You Would Do That !

When Are You Going To Start ? !

And.When Are Your Fellow Democrats In Congress Going To Start ? !

Thank you,I guess,Michael Flanagan..A Democrat..


Ps..Rockefeller D-NY..The Head Of The Senate Intelligence Committee Is Up To He's Eyeballs In Telecom Campaign Contributions ! !

Why Isn't That A Huge Conflict Of Interest ? !

Thank you,I guess,M..A Democrat..