FEINGOLD: "President Is Fearmongering" & "& Avoiding ALL Accountability" With His "ILLEGAL" Spying

[kpete]

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), one of the leading immunity opponents in Congress, fired back after Bush's speech.

The President is fear-mongering and efforts to mislead the American people have become increasingly transparent," Feingold said in a prepared statement. "The House should continue to stand up to these tactics and decline to grant immunity to companies that allegedly cooperated in the president's illegal warrantless wiretapping program. It is unacceptable that this administration seems to be more interested in avoiding all accountability for the program than it is in working with Congress to pass a bill that both allows us to aggressively go after suspected terrorists and protects the privacy of innocent Americans.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing plaintiffs against the telecoms, has said the lawsuits are about protecting the constitution, not collecting a paycheck. And immunity opponents point out that if the telecoms really did act within the law, as Bush insists, they already are immune from prosecution.

"It's critical to emphasize ... that the telecoms already have immunity under existing statutes, even if they broke the law, as long as they obtained from the Attorney General certifications that the warrantless surveillance requests were legal," writes Glenn Greenwald, who has closely followed the FISA debate (emphasis in original). "If the telecoms really did obtain those certifications -- and it's extremely unlikely that they did -- then all they ever had to do was just show them to the court and they would be immune."

more at:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Bush_House_FISA_bill_dangerous_for_0313.html

[Vilis Veritas]

1. I heard that the way the bill was written would give Bush and

his Administration immunity as well.

If so, then they can't send it to him the way he wants it.

[Thepricebreaker]

3. Bush already has immunity.. He can only be impeached - you can't sue a sitting President

[Vilis Veritas]

7. But you can sue a non-sitting President.

As in after he leaves office...

Peace.

[AndyA]

2. That pretty much sums it up and language that even the biggest Kool-Aid drinker should be able to

understand.

If the telecoms did what they were supposed to do, there is no issue and they are not liable. Therefore, the additional protection for them is unnecessary. But if they did not do what they were supposed to do, they should be liable.

We all know this isn't about protecting America against terrorism. It's about protecting Bush's sorry ass for breaking the law.

Kicked and recommended.

[treestar]

4. ...

:kick:

[Laelth]

5. Somebody running for VP?

Don't get me wrong. I like what he's saying, and I think he'd make a solid VP candidate, but gosh ... talk about preaching to the choir and shoring up the base!

Go Russ!

-Laelth

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. k n r

[Jeffersons Ghost]

8. K&R

[Stuart G]

9. K and R.