FISA Politics

Longtime readers of this blog know that I've been following the politics behind the FISA issue for some time, so I was not surprised this week to learn that the House version of the "new and improved" Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act includes retroactive immunity for telecom companies and weak judicial oversight. Congress essentially told Bush, "hey, that law your breaking now, we'll just amend it so you can keep doing what your doing but it won't be illegal anymore." I have a visceral reaction to an Executive Branch that believes it is above the law and doesn't have to bother with the checks and balances that were put into place precisely to prevent the abuse of power. What did surprise me though, was learning that Barack Obama supports the amended law (Politico - Netroots jilted by Obama FISA stand):

Disappointed over his position on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the online activists feel jilted and betrayed and have taken to questioning his progressive credentials. One prominent blogger, Atrios, has even given him the moniker “Wanker of the Day.” “He broke faith,” said Matt Stoller, a political consultant and blogger at OpenLeft.com. “Obama pledged to filibuster, and he is part of that old politics, in this case, that he said he wasn’t. It will spur us to challenge him.”

It's interesting to me that this has become an issue for those on the left, when I see it as a particularly sensitive issue for those on the right as well. After all, changing our American system and getting away from the checks and balances that our Founder's wisely put into place between the branches of government is not a conservative idea, it's a radical idea. As things stand now, unless the Senate takes a stand, the Congress will have handed President Bush almost unlimited authority to spy on citizens. And it's not really Bush that bothers me, it's the precedent and the absolute certainty that eventually power will be abused in the absence of checks and balances. It's just human nature, and our system of government was designed to function in defiance of a human nature which tends to tyranny and not liberty.

Comments

[xoites]

Repeal FISA is up and running. Anyone who wants to is welcome to sign up and become a blogger on it. The purpose of the blog is to organize a drive to repeal the FISA laws and all laws that pardon or give immunity from prosecution anyone who has violated the Constitution during the Bush Administration.

That is why we want everyone to be able to Post so they can start a conversation about an idea they have to make this happen.

Stop on by and check it out. By all means leave a comment and sign up to blog with us as we figure out what needs to be done to return our Fourth Amendment Rights and our rule of law.

If you have a blog already and you become a poster we will link to your site.

http://repealfisa.wordpress.com/

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[Joel]

Thanks for your comment, I'll check it out.