FLUSHING THE CONSTITUTION DOWN THE TOILET …

Just great.

The House of Representatives has finally caved into the Bush administration’s proposed spying program, which gives the telecom industry retroactive immunity for helping President Bush spy on Americans at will, and without cause (check out the discussion on MSNBC).

As I’ve pointed out again and again on this site over the past six months, someone needs to look into why the Bush administration was asking the telecom industry to help them spy on Americans at least six months before 9/11. Perhaps we can get someone in the House of Representatives, like Christopher Dodd did in the Senate back in December, to step in and block this freedom and liberty destroying piece of legislation.

And for those of you who are not up to speed on FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillence Act) legislation – which the new legislation impacts – you really only need to know two things.

First, FISA was a Watergate era piece of legislation designed to give the president the legal authority to track and listen in on perceived foreign threats to this nation. It’s roots are tied to President Nixon’s claim that he did what he did because he feared foreign subversives. It was, of course, a bogus claim (Nixon was paranoid and vile), but Congress decided there was some merit to the argument and passed FISA in the 1970s.

Second, apart from the fact that there was no 9/11 national security threat when President Bush first asked the telecom industry to help him spy on Americans (and if there was, why didn't Bush listen to Richard Clarke in the summer of 2001?), 9/11 led to legislation that now allows our national security guys to wiretap and spy on anyone they suspect. The only proviso is that they have to ask for a FISA warrant up to 72 hours after the fact. In other words, with the Patriot Act, the president didn’t need to illegally spy on Americans after 9/11 – as long as we had a reasonable hunch.

At the end of the day, the president’s search for retroactive immunity for the telecom industry is little more than a search for personal protection, and protection for his Constitutionally challenged team (and the few complicit Dems who were brow beaten into supporting the president’s spying initiatives early on). Team Bush knows the telecom industry will not go down quietly if they alone are fingered in court for violating the Constitution and our 4th amendment rights.

And they will have much to answer for, as this August 2002 article from Jonathan Turley in the LA Times makes clear.

- Mark

P.S. And for those who can't remember, here's the 4th Amendment:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."