First off, all Bush has to do is issue a signing statement saying he doesn't agree with the warrantless wire-tapping (which he most certainly will do) and he can keep tap-tap-tapping. Second, here's what Obama voted for (I'll use CBS' explanation since it's on-target):
"The new bill extends [tapping timeframe from 72 hours] to a week, allows the surveillance to continue during appeals, and permits the government to use any of the information it collects even if the FISA court eventually rules that the tap is unlawful."
Now, what would you do if the police illegally searched your home but were able to use the evidence anyway? You'd scream bloddy murder all the way to jail. Maybe you were guilty, but you certainly weren't given your Constitutional rights...
"the bill gives wholesale approval to bulk monitoring of electronic communications (primarily email and phone calls)."
Please note this does not require a warrant and do not require probable cause or reasonable suspicion. From this day on, any e-mail you send is now monitored by the NSA, no matter what. The next time you send your signicifcant other an e-mail, the NSA can read it as well.
CBS puts it well here:
"The oversight on this stuff is inherently weak. After all, no court can seriously evaluate algorithms like this and neither can Congress. They don't have the technical chops. Do the algorithms use ethnic background as one of their parameters? Membership in suspect organizations? Associations with foreigners? Residence in specific neighborhoods? Nobody knows, and no layman can know, because these things most likely emerge from other parameters rather than being used as direct inputs to the algorithm.For all practical purposes, then, the decision about which U.S. citizens to spy on is being vested in a small group of technicians operating in secret and creating criteria that virtually no one else understands."
Those of us who are screaming about FISA are doing it partly because of the telecos but more because of the 4th Amdt rights we just lost. Please feel free to respond with facts. your opinion about FISA is less interesting. If you can refute the facts, go for it...
(Quotes from CBS article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/22/politics/animal/main4200909.shtml)
PS *Wanda*, do not cut & paste the response you've added to every one else's blog just so you can get points. I will delete it. If you want to type a "personal" comment, I'm happy to read it.
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