Another Cave in the Works?

[rodeodance]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/09/20/BL2007092001274_pf.html

Another Cave in the Works?

Maura Reynolds writes in the Los Angeles Times: "President Bush plunged directly into the campaign to save his warrantless wiretapping program, arguing Wednesday that telecommunications firms that cooperated with spy agencies should be granted retroactive immunity from possible prosecution.

"Bush also urged Congress to pass a permanent revision of legislation that gave the program a six-month lifespan."

Check out this contorted language in Bush's statement yesterday -- not Bush's doing for once, but that of his lawyers: "It's particularly important for Congress to provide meaningful liability protection to those companies now facing multi-billion dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in efforts to defend our nation following the 9/11 attacks."

Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball write for Newsweek: "The nation's biggest telecommunications companies, working closely with the White House, have mounted a secretive lobbying campaign to get Congress to quickly approve a measure wiping out all private lawsuits against them for assisting the U.S. intelligence community's warrantless surveillance programs. . . .

"ritics say the language proposed by the White House -- drafted in close cooperation with the industry officials -- is so extraordinarily broad that it would provide retroactive immunity for all past telecom actions related to the surveillance program. Its practical effect, they argue, would be to shut down any independent judicial or state inquires into how the companies have assisted the government in eavesdropping on the telephone calls and e-mails of U.S. residents in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks."..........

[acmavm]

1. You bet. It benefits major corporations, right?

[Robson]

2. Disillusioned voters

Doesn't surprise me. They have become pacifists that don't know how to fight for our Constitutional rights believing that the 2008 election will come rolling their way if they simply go along to get along. No wonder Congress has an 11% approval rating. Meanwhile they come up with DREAM Acts to give away the country to those that illegally immigrate. They better wake up because many Democrats are becoming disillusioned and disillusioned voters don't vote.