Comments on: Wiretap laws face new static

A bill in the House focuses on the touchy issue of immunity for ISPs and phone companies that aid the feds in spying.

[DrColes]

Know whom you are voting for

As we struggle to know our domestic enemies. No, matter your political party affiliation, and setting aside your thoughts on issues. We all need to remember what it is to be an American Citizen. We need to make sure our elected representatives obey their Oath of Office and keep their Oath of Allegiance. See http://tinyurl.com/2znnvl Know whom you are voting for.

[Pete Bardo]

Blanket Coverage

If I come up with a scheme to collect personal information, for whatever slimy reason I might have, and cloak that scheme with a claim that I'm fighting terrorism, then it's all ok with GW?

Sure will make it easier to track down all those pesky Muslim-Americans and lock 'em up.

The real problem here is we continue to allow government agencies to violate the constitution and our individual rights, and we can't even bring them to task. Sure, give the telecom companies immunity, but grant us the right to sue the government agencies that strong-armed those companies for the information.

We can not demonstrate the superiority of democracy over other, more repressive forms of government by allowing our rights to be eroded in the name of the war on terrorism.

We can not defend our freedom by eliminating it!

[ferretboy88]

Don't kid your self Democrats will spy

Hillary and company wants to keep all the records when a background check is done for buying a gun. Thats spying on normal non criminal citizens. Why would you think they would not want to do spying of other kinds. Both sides will spy at first to keep us safe then we will end up like England with video camera every single area in all the major cities. You can't even drive around with out getting a ticket in the mail. Now thats big brother watching you. If you drive down the same street too many times in one day you get a ticket in the mail for congestion.

[bruceslog]

I second that !

[quote] -We can not defend our freedom by eliminating it! - [end quote]

I could not agree more !

What the hell has happened to our People that no one will stand up for our Country and all it has ever stood for ?
The real enemy seems to be within.

[awaterma]

minor issue?

I take offense to your dismissal of civil litigation against telecommunication companies, that may or may not have committed illegal acts, as some kind of "minor issue." You do your reader's a disservice projecting this type of propoganda. Please be more open and fair with your "reporting."

[declan00]

well...

The bulk of a 1,700-word article was about this issue, so I'm not sure why anyone would think *I* believe it's minor.

All the lede said was that to some people it might "seem" to be minor. And then we explained why it wasn't. You should read beyond the first paragraph.

[mac5000]

help

Can anyone please tell me why in the world we are allowing this to
happen? This is like watching the lobster boiled alive.. We are
handing over our liberty to the gov't.. How insane is that.. Check
Ron Paul for president at RonPaul2008.com. When you trade liberty
for security, you lose both.

[ShoutingLoudly]

How (Not) to Do FISA Reform

Here is a letter I just sent to Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ), my elected
representative:

Dear Rep. Sires,

I am a voter in your district, and I am writing in regards to H.R.
3773, the RESTORE Act. I urge you not to support this legislation
unless it meets two key conditions.

First, the bill must not be amended to grant immunity for
telecommunications providers who cooperated with the Bush
administration?s illegal wiretapping program. Such a grant of
immunity will cut important court cases off at the knees before
we can learn the full nature of the administration?s spying. In
short, you must not reward the administration for their blatant
disregard for the law of the land, including the very balanced
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and you must not reward
common carriers for their willingness to join in the illegalities.
Bush?s threat to veto the legislation without such a grant of
immunity only confirms concerns that the law has been broken.

Second, do not approve the bill without all of its current
protections for civil liberties. In particular, insist that the bill
retain or strengthen the following provisions:

? Section 5, requiring oversight and periodic audits of
surveillance activities
? Section 7, requiring the Department of Justice to conduct a
timely audit of all warrantless surveillance programs since
September 11, 2001
? Section 8, requiring record keeping of all surveillance of United
States persons
? Section 10, reiterating FISA as the sole legal justification for
the gathering of electronic surveillance

Not incidentally, the Bush administration?s willful disregard for
FISA is an impeachable act if ever there was one, but sadly it is
not the only one committed in the past seven years. Speaker
Pelosi may consider impeachment to be off the table, but I do
not, and if you and your colleagues do not stand up for the
Constitution, I fear for the future of our democracy.

As cross-posted on Shouting Loudly:

http://www.shoutingloudly.com/
2007/10/10/how-not-to-do-fisa-reform

[bruceslog]

They Broke the Law

The communications companies in question broke the laws and the Constitution of the United States at the time of occurrence. No company or entity should ever be allowed to break such laws and be retroactively granted a blind blanket immunity for such action. Are you listening, Congress ?
And why does Mr Bush and his administration insist on holding up new laws with threats of vetoes in and effort to bully our Congress into granting these companies immunity ? Does Mr Bush hold a large share of AT&T stock or something ?
Non of these people are doing their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution of these United States.
We need someone who is capable of getting them all fired from their jobs to speak up now.
As a constituent, I place my vote.. they are all fired, effective immediately.