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He asks a favor of his congressman
By adamg on Wed, 02/13/2008 - 10:31am
Matthew Mittelstadt writes Steve Lynch about the bill that lets telephone companies off the hook for spying on Americans:
... Please, Mr. Lynch, I beg of you to do everything you can to ensure that when this bill reaches the House chambers that it does not pass. It must not pass. The companies that engaged in this blatant, illegal, unconstitutional and frankly un-American surveillance should have their fates decided in the appropriate branch of government - Judicial - and not be the beneficiary of the Executive's wishes to sweep their transgressions under the rug to be forgotten about with the Legislature's help. ...
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Comments
This is very, very
This is very, very important.
I suggest everyone reading this do the same. The Dems in the Senate have failed us, once again.
I looked up the voting
I looked up the voting record on the bill in the hopes that one of our elderly senators voted for it for some inexplicable reason and I could write a scathing letter to them as well, but they were not among the 68 traitors who voted in favor.
I cannot believe what a corrupt wasteland our government has become.
Make sure to write your
Make sure to write your house represenative.
The last stand will be in the house, the senate has failed us.
pass the bill already!!!
pass the bill already!!! Those of you who think it's an invasion of privacy should wake up and read what the bill actually does.
Do you want another 9/11 or worse...we are at war folks!!
Just because the war hasn't touched you personaly, doesn't make it any less real.
At War?
So anonymous soldier, your rank and service branch please?
Maybe you are at war, but many of us here stateside (including some of us veterans) ain't buying the whole "we are at war (that we started because some gits had their heads infested with romantic ideals of empire) thang". Not only that, but we are also not buying into the "at war" = give up liberties thing. The founders of our country were soooo onto that one and set up the laws accordingly. You would know that had you bothered to do your 11th grade civics homework.
More like we are at "our resources are being used to pump Haliburton stock and oil prices".
15 years service. How about
15 years service. How about you.. I bet none.
Lets think, about 200 years or so ago messages traveled by hand and or horse, I suppose NONE of those were intercepted to be read to protect this great country.
Please do your homework sweetie.11th grade(very fun) ....that was about 3 degree's ago.
You said: Maybe you are at war, but many of us here stateside (including some of us veterans)...
1979
Nov. 4, Tehran, Iran: Iranian radical students seized the U.S. embassy, taking 66 hostages. 14 were later released. The remaining 52 were freed after 444 days on the day of President Reagan's inauguration.
1982–1991
Lebanon: Thirty US and other Western hostages kidnapped in Lebanon by Hezbollah. Some were killed, some died in captivity, and some were eventually released. Terry Anderson was held for 2,454 days.
1983
April 18, Beirut, Lebanon: U.S. embassy destroyed in suicide car-bomb attack; 63 dead, including 17 Americans. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
Oct. 23, Beirut, Lebanon: Shiite suicide bombers exploded truck near U.S. military barracks at Beirut airport, killing 241 marines. Minutes later a second bomb killed 58 French paratroopers in their barracks in West Beirut.
Dec. 12, Kuwait City, Kuwait: Shiite truck bombers attacked the U.S. embassy and other targets, killing 5 and injuring 80.
1984
Sept. 20, east Beirut, Lebanon: truck bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy annex, killing 24, including 2 U.S. military.
Dec. 3, Beirut, Lebanon: Kuwait Airways Flight 221, from Kuwait to Pakistan, hijacked and diverted to Tehran. 2 Americans killed.
1985
April 12, Madrid, Spain: Bombing at restaurant frequented by U.S. soldiers, killed 18 Spaniards and injured 82.
June 14, Beirut, Lebanon: TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome hijacked to Beirut by Hezbollah terrorists and held for 17 days. A U.S. Navy diver executed.
Oct. 7, Mediterranean Sea: gunmen attack Italian cruise ship, Achille Lauro. One U.S. tourist killed. Hijacking linked to Libya.
Dec. 18, Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria: airports in Rome and Vienna were bombed, killing 20 people, 5 of whom were Americans. Bombing linked to Libya.
1986
April 2, Athens, Greece:A bomb exploded aboard TWA flight 840 en route from Rome to Athens, killing 4 Americans and injuring 9.
April 5, West Berlin, Germany: Libyans bombed a disco frequented by U.S. servicemen, killing 2 and injuring hundreds.
1988
Dec. 21, Lockerbie, Scotland: N.Y.-bound Pan-Am Boeing 747 exploded in flight from a terrorist bomb and crashed into Scottish village, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on the ground. Passengers included 35 Syracuse University students and many U.S. military personnel. Libya formally admitted responsibility 15 years later (Aug. 2003) and offered $2.7 billion compensation to victims' families.
1993
Feb. 26, New York City: bomb exploded in basement garage of World Trade Center, killing 6 and injuring at least 1,040 others. In 1995, militant Islamist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 9 others were convicted of conspiracy charges, and in 1998, Ramzi Yousef, believed to have been the mastermind, was convicted of the bombing. Al-Qaeda involvement is suspected.
1995
April 19, Oklahoma City: car bomb exploded outside federal office building, collapsing wall and floors. 168 people were killed, including 19 children and 1 person who died in rescue effort. Over 220 buildings sustained damage. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols later convicted in the antigovernment plot to avenge the Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Tex., exactly 2 years earlier. (See Miscellaneous Disasters.)
Nov. 13, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: car bomb exploded at U.S. military headquarters, killing 5 U.S. military servicemen.
1996
June 25, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: truck bomb exploded outside Khobar Towers military complex, killing 19 American servicemen and injuring hundreds of others. 13 Saudis and a Lebanese, all alleged members of Islamic militant group Hezbollah, were indicted on charges relating to the attack in June 2001.
1998
Aug. 7, Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: truck bombs exploded almost simultaneously near 2 U.S. embassies, killing 224 (213 in Kenya and 11 in Tanzania) and injuring about 4,500. 4 men connected with al-Qaeda 2 of whom had received training at al-Qaeda camps inside Afghanistan, were convicted of the killings in May 2001 and later sentenced to life in prison. A federal grand jury had indicted 22 men in connection with the attacks, including Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, who remained at large.
2000
Oct. 12, Aden, Yemen: U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole heavily damaged when a small boat loaded with explosives blew up alongside it. 17 sailors killed. Linked to Osama bin Laden, or members of al-Qaeda terrorist network.
2001
Sept. 11, New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa.: hijackers crashed 2 commercial jets into twin towers of World Trade Center; 2 more hijacked jets were crashed into the Pentagon and a field in rural Pa. Total dead and missing numbered 2,9921: 2,749 in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon, 40 in Pa., and 19 hijackers. Islamic al-Qaeda terrorist group blamed. (See September 11, 2001: Timeline of Terrorism.)
2002
June 14, Karachi, Pakistan: bomb exploded outside American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12. Linked to al-Qaeda.
2003
May 12, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: suicide bombers killed 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners. Al-Qaeda suspected.
2004
May 29–31, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists attack the offices of a Saudi oil company in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, take foreign oil workers hostage in a nearby residential compound, leaving 22 people dead including one American.
June 11–19, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists kidnap and execute Paul Johnson Jr., an American, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 2 other Americans and BBC cameraman killed by gun attacks.
Dec. 6, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: terrorists storm the U.S. consulate, killing 5 consulate employees. 4 terrorists were killed by Saudi security.
2005
Nov. 9, Amman, Jordan: Suicide bombers hit 3 American hotels, Radisson, Grand Hyatt, and Days Inn, in Amman, Jordan, killing 57. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
2006
Sept. 13, Damascus, Syria: an attack by four gunman on the American embassy was foiled.
2007
Jan. 12, Athens, Greece: the U.S. embassy was fired on by an anti-tank missile causing damage but no injuries.
Dec. 11, Algeria: More than 60 people are killed, including 11 United Nations staff members, when Al Qaeda terrorists detonate two car bombs near Algeria's Constitutional Council and the United Nations offices.
Where do you live sweetie, Berkeley?? I am done with you.
Glad you're done, cupcake
Now stop pretending to be a soldier and go stick your head back up Bill O'Reilly's ass.
The united states is not the
The united states is not the millitary SWEETY.
There's no reason to intercept everything and create huge databases that violate privacy, when all they need to do is walk down the hall and grab a warrent.
You Forgot the Anthrax Mailings
But so has everybody else, apparently. Especially the government.
Murrah Building
Damn furriners. Oh, wait ...
Give Them Time
I'm sure they can find a link between McVeigh and al-Qaeda. That's the great thing about al-Qaeda; since nobody seems to know anything about who they are or where they are, you can link anything bad that happens to them, including shark attacks. They're like our very own Emmanuel Goldstein.
I would like to see the authority for this program expire
The Democrats in Congress need to grow a backbone and kill this program entirely, by letting its authorization expire this week. The telecom companies then need to apologize to everyone in the USA for allowing the government to misuse their facilities to violate their customers' privacy.
I'm not at war with anyone
Who are you at war with?
nation of laws? or not so much anymore
All of this is the result of the December 2005 story by the New York Times which first reported that the Bush administration was illegally spying on Americans for many years without warrants of any kind.
James Risen and Eric Lichtblau were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for exposing this serious lawbreaking.
What were the consequences for the President for having broken the law so deliberately and transparently?
Absolutely nothing.
Are we a nation of laws? or not so much anymore.
Thank you, but no. Have you
Thank you, but no.
Have you read the bill?! Care to rationalize away why it's alright to retroactively give immunity to people and corporations, who knew the law, but broke it anyways?
Care to rationalize away why it's alright for the government to massively intercept all email and data communications as they see fit?
Keep moving citizen, there's nothing to see here.
We have these things called laws, and warrant, and such, and they've worked just fine for the last 300 years. No need to drop them all for fascist style surveillance yet.
Democrats for Illegal Wiretapping
Listed below are the US Senators in the Democratic Party who did not support reasonable amendments to FISA reauthorization - such as not granting telcomms immunity - for illegally wiretapping Americans.
There were provisions in the law to legally wiretap Americans and the telecomms knew that. In other words, the law was clear. Instead, Bush went outside FISA and asked telecom to wiretap Americans illegally and PAID them to do so. The telecomms were paid to break the law, they broke the law for profit.
As a result of the immunity in FISA reauthorization, our courts will never adjudicate the issue. The discovery that occurs during litigation will never occur and we will never learn about the Bush Administration’s law-breaking with respect to violating the 4th amendment rights of US Citizens, on an enormous scale -all telephone calls, all email, all access to web pages.
Furthermore, amendments to the bill that required the government to destroy this personal private information (commonly called minimization procedures) once it is determined that the communications were not a matter of national security, were also defeated. They're watching you and it doesn't matter if you're a terrorist or not.
These Senators stood for the interests of the telecomm industry over the rights of US citizens;
Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV),
Evan Bayh (D-IA),
Daniel Inouye (D-HI),
Tim Johnson (D-SD),
Herb Kohl (D-WI),
Mary Landrieu (D-LA),
Claire McCaskill (D-MO),
Mark Pryor (D-AR),
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR),
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA),
Ken Salazar (D-CO),
Tom Carper (D-DE),
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD),
Jim Webb (D-VA),
Ben Nelson (D-NE),
Bill Nelson (D-FL),
Kent Conrad (D-ND), and
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
and they stood for concealing the truth about the illegal surveillance rather than investigating it, as we do in A NATION OF LAWS.