YR CALL IS IMPORTANT TO US: SENATE EDITION

[defrog]

Remember that bloggery thing I did a couple of weeks back about how the Democrat-controlled House passed a bill retroactively legalizing Bush’s unilateral (and illegal) warrantless wiretapping program, and the Democrat-controlled Senate was going to have its own vote next?

Well, they had it. And they approved it. By a landslide. Which basically means Team Bush, the NSA and the phone companies get to get away with spying on whoever they like without having to show probable cause. Checks and balances? Accountability? Oversight? Fuck you. We are AT WAR. 9/11 changed Everything.

And so on.

I could go on, but plenty has already been written over the past THREE YEARS on why this is a bad idea and why, contrary to all the posturing by both the Bush Posse and Democrats over saving lives, warrantless wiretaps don’t really make people any safer.

Well, like that matters now.

Thanks, Democrats.

By the way, I hear the Justice Department is considering new rules to let the FBI investigate Americans without any evidence of wrongdoing based on “suspicious” behavior like being Muslim and of Arab descent. I’m sure the Democrats will be pleased to put their stamp of approval on that, too.

Why not? When you start selling out constitutional principles like separation of powers and the Fourth Amendment, why stop there? Besides, when you need to look tough on national security, there is no job too dirty for a fucking politician.

On the bright side, we all get to have our lives directed by Tony Scott.

Enemy of the State
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So, you know, that's something.

FUN FACT: As promised, Barack Obama voted in favor of this. Hillary Clinton, you may like to know, voted against it.

Oops!

Note also that although John McCain has said he supports warrantless wiretaps, he was not present at the vote – indicating he may be more clever than we thought.

Enemy of the state,

This is dF

Comments

[scifigal.livejournal.com]

These things always remind me of "24" and how the government and "people's rights" always stand in the way of Jack Bauer trying to stop the nuclear bombs from going off in Los Angeles.

It's funny--I wonder if that was an agenda of the show.

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

It was – sort of. I saw an interview with 24 creator Joel Surnow once, and he's a conservative who saw 24 in part as a way to confront viewers with those kinds of questions about whether Bauer's actions would be considered acceptable in certain situations.

Not to get TOO intellectual about it – 24 was conceived as an action show with a contemporary conflict and a real-time gimmick, not as a pro-torture propaganda piece. But Jack Bauer did become a pop icon for the right.

The problem – and most independent security experts agree – is that Jack's "ticking time bomb" scenario pretty much NEVER happens in real life, and even when it does, torturing suspects rarely if ever yields useful and accurate information even if yr not in a hurry to get it. You might get a fast answer, but it doesn't mean it's a truthful or useful one.

But why let that get in the way of an exciting story? Or a Congressional bill?