A week or so ago, I sent an email to my Senators regarding the FISA update and Telco immunity.<\/p>\n
I congratulated Ben Cardin, and castigated Senator Barbara Mikulski for their votes on telco immunity, which is really all about covering up the misdeeds of the Bush administration.<\/p>\n
Here is her response, and my comments, which I’m not sending, because it won’t do any good:<\/p>\n
Thank you for getting in touch with me to express your concerns about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). I appreciate learning of your views about this important matter. <\/span><\/p>\n
As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I am very aware that terrorists plan and intend to harm the United States and the American people. I hear about these threats every day – and I take them very seriously. Yet I agree with you – that even as our nation faces new threats, Constitutional protections must be safeguarded.<\/span> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Which is why she decided to allow the phone companies to Hoover the records of every call in the US and all the internet traffic<\/span>.<\/p>\n
To quote Keith Olbermann:<\/p>\n
Mark Klein is the AT&T whistleblower who appeared on this newscast last November, who explained, in the placid, dull terms of your local neighborhood I-T desk, how he personally attached all of AT&T\u2019s circuits \u2014 everything carrying every phone call, every e-mail, every bit of web browsing \u2014 into a secure room\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026Room Number 641-A, at the Folsom Street facility in San Francisco \u2014 where it was all copied so the government could look at it.<\/p>\n
Not some of it; not just the international part of it; certainly not just the stuff some truly patriotic and telepathic spy might be able to divine had been sent or spoken by or to a terrorist.<\/p>\n
Everything.<\/p>\n
Every time you looked at a naked picture, every time you bid on eBay, every time you phoned-in a donation to a Democrat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thought was \u2018George Orwell\u2019s 1984,\u2019\u201d Mr. Klein told me, reflecting back, \u201cand here I am, being forced to\u2026 connect the Big Brother machine.\u201d<\/p>\n
You know, Mr. Bush, if Mr. Klein\u2019s \u201cBig Brother Machine\u201d \u2014 the one the Vice President conveniently just confirmed for us \u2014 if it was of any damn use at all at actually finding anything, you could probably program it to find out who started that slanderous e-mail about Barack Obama.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Your actions are inexcusable and unforgivable.<\/p>\n
The FISA Act was created in 1978 to regulate how electronic surveillance was conducted in the United States . This law needs to be updated to account for changes in communications technology over the last thirty years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’ve yet to see any reason for this. What FISA says is, “if you think that there is an issue with foreign communications, you get the tap, but a judge has to approve it within 72 hours.<\/p>\n
That’s why I voted for a bipartisan bill that updates a number of problems with the existing law. This new legislation (S. 2248) strengthens national security while protecting civil liberties. The bill also strengthens the role of the FISA Court by requiring greater judicial review and improves oversight and accountability of the entire FISA process. The Senate passed S. 2248 by a vote of 68 – 29 on February 12, 2008. One key provision I fought to include in this bill was a requirement that a warrant must be approved by the FISA Court to monitor a U.S. person anywhere in the world. This new protection means that the Constitution travels with you – even beyond the borders of the United States.<\/span> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Under FISA, you need a warrant within 72 hours for anyone<\/span>. How is this “stronger”.<\/p>\n
I understand your concerns about providing limited liability protection to telecommunication companies who assisted the government’s efforts to disrupt terrorist plots in the days following the attacks on September 11, 2001. While the Bush Administration wanted full retroactive immunity for these companies and any White House employee or government official involved in the warrantless wiretapping program, S. 2248 provides a more narrow, focused, and limited liability protection . I strongly supported an amendment offered by Senator Feinstein that would have required the FISA Court to determine if liability protection should be afforded to these telecommunications companies. Unfortunately, that amendment failed to get enough votes to become part of the bill.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Your ignorance astonishes me. This program did not start, “the days following the attacks on September 11, 2001”, it started in February, 2001<\/span>, a full 7 months before the attacks, and it is clear now that the administration used threats of retribution on government contracts<\/span>, as in the case of Qwest to get compliance.<\/p>\n
When the Senate debated this bill, I supported this protection because those companies were acting in good faith under assurances from the President and the Attorney General that what they were being asked to do was legal. You should know that I also support holding accountable those Bush Administration officials who disregarded the law under the President’s secret wiretapping program.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
These companies have legal departments<\/span>. They know the law. And they are already protected when they follow the law<\/span>. If they were told that a FISA warrant was in process, they would be indemnified<\/span>.<\/p>\n
Your claim that you, “support holding accountable those Bush Administration officials who disregarded the law under the President’s secret wiretapping program”, is a lie.<\/p>\n
Whats more, in your capacity as a member of the intelligence committee, YOU<\/span> are one of those people who allowed him to disregard the law.<\/p>\n
I have heard from many Marylanders on this important issue and I appreciate hearing of your concerns. While we may disagree on some parts of this reform, we both share the same goal of strengthening national security while protecting our civil liberties.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
No, you are interested in covering your ass, in one of the bluest states in the nation against Republican attack ads. That;s why you, and about 1\/3 of the Democratic Senatorial caucus folded like broccoli to George W. Bush, who is less popular than hemorrhoids.<\/p>\n
Again, thanks for keeping in touch with me. Please let me know if I may be of assistance to you in the future.<\/p>\n
Sincerely,
Barbara A. Mikulski
United States Senator<\/p><\/blockquote>\nJust so you know, I will never vote for you in a primary or general ever again, nor will I give to an organization that endorses you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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