Archive for the 'Constitution' Category
August 24th, 2008 by Bob Schwartz
Our illustrious Congress already irreparably weakened the 4th Amendment earlier this summer when they passed the “Spy on Americans” act, also known as the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 and now the Justice Department wants to pretty much erase it from the Constitution.
A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.
And here is the meat of the Justice Department plan:
The senators said the new guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps “without any basis for suspicion.” The plan “might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities,” the letter said. It was signed by Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. (emphasis mine)
Just like when dealing with a 4 year old, you give in once and they want more. What’s worse, knowing the total lack of backbone exhibited by our wonderful Democrat led Congress, the Justice Department will likely get what they want.
Finally, speaking of FISA, since the FISA bill all but cut off at the knees all pending lawsuits against the Telco’s, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has had to resort to plan B. They will instead sue the US Government over illegally spying on US citizens as the final bill signed into law didn’t contain the government immunity that Bush had requested.
Considering George Bush will long have been out of office if and when this goes to court, the new administration will be left to deal with it. If it is Barack Obama, I will have zero sympathy considering his flip flop on the issue.
And yes I know the above scenario is highly unlikely, but I can dream can’t I?
July 20th, 2008 by Bob Schwartz
I don’t know if the DNC realized the irony of this or not but less than a month after the Democrats in Congress capitulated on FISA, one of the chief benefactors of the bill just happens to become one of the prime sponsors of next month’s convention in Denver.
Salon’s Glenn Greenwald has the skinny on the primo AT&T swag that will be waiting for every delegate and media member when they arrive and adds his take on the NASCAResque turn of events in current day politics.
What’s most striking about the Convention bag — aside, of course, from its stunning design — is how the parties no longer bother even trying to hide who it is who funds and sponsors them. But — an earnest citizen might object — just because AT&T is helping to pay for the Democrats’ convention and having its logo plastered all over it the way a ranch owner brands his cattle doesn’t mean that they will receive any special consideration when it comes time for Congress to debate and pass our nation’s laws.
So where is the irony?
When President Bush signed the FISA Reform Act, the numerous lawsuits against AT&T for assisting the government in their previous illegal warrantless wiretaps pretty much went away potentially saving the telcom company $21,000 per affected person. The Democrats, including presumptive nominee Barack Obama changed course and voted for the immunity despite previous pledges to the contrary which pushed the bill over the top. Now all of a sudden the convention, which was having money issues with some talking about scaling down the event, has a new big time sponsor?
I’d say that this all sounds like a new topic for Oliver Stone to make into his next JFK type movie. But something this obvious wouldn’t need the master of conspiracy theories to connect the dots would it?
July 12th, 2008 by Bob Schwartz
Worldnet Daily (ick) has an article that discusses a lawsuit brought forward by a gay man (that’s a homosexual man for the American Family Association’s homo-filters) against 2 Bible publishers for violating his Constitutional rights.
Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, of Canton, Mich., is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing in lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Grand Rapids Press reported.
Fowler filed his claim against Grand Rapids-based Zondervan Monday, alleging its Bibles’ references to homosexuality as a sin have made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of “demoralization, chaos and bewilderment,” the paper said.
Now I have no idea if this guy has a case, but what I consider a bigger point about this story is just how much certain interpretations of the Bible have been changed to reflect the world view of some homophobic biblical scholars that have been charged with updating these versions of the Bible. And as a result, how the ideals of those that follow their teachings have followed suit.
A perfect example of this shift towards unbridled religious driven homophobia by some is given by Fowler as part of his lawsuit and it perfectly documents this change by showing how much one passage has changed in the last 40 years.
In 1970, I Corinthians 6:9 read as followed-
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulteres, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effiminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind.
In 1982 ,the same scripture read like this-
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodimites.
In 2001 the same scripture reads like this-
Surely you know that the people who do wrong will not inherit God’s kingdom. Do not be fooled, those who sin sexually, worship idols, take part in adultery, those who are male prostitutes, or men who have sexual relations with other men, those who steal, are greedy, get drunk, lie about others, or rob these people will not inherit God’s kingdom.
Anyone notice a pattern? Over the years as gay and lesbian groups have begun pushing for more equality, the more anti-gay certain versions of the Bible have become. Kind of explains why the religious right’s agenda has become so anti-gay centric doesn’t it?
July 9th, 2008 by Bob Schwartz
The AP hasn’t been doing much for their reputation of late, first they go after blogger’s for quoting their content, then they go all ga ga over McCain with fluff pieces galore, and now they publish this wonderful piece that tries to convince us that Barack Obama’s capitulation on FISA reform is actually part of his grand move to the middle.
I won’t quote the AP’s David Espo and his reasoning here but considering I honestly considered myself a middle of the road moderate at one time, giving up our Constitutional rights was a chapter that I somehow missed when I was studying the moderate handbook…
July 9th, 2008 by Bob Schwartz
After earlier today soundly defeating all 3 amendments that would have pulled telcom immunity from the FISA Reform bill, the Senate passed President Bush’s get out of jail free card 69-28. Joining Stephanie Herseth Sandlin who last month voted to pass this legislation in the House with 6,000 in telecom money in her bank account is John Thune whom earned a $7,000 “payout” from the same sources.
Not letting South Dakota’s other elected official off the hook, Tim Johnson voted twice against amendments that would have pulled telcom immunity out of the bill. He then put the final nail in the Constitutional coffin when he joined Thune and voted to pass the final bill.
And finally topping off the Democratic capitulation, as promised earlier despite the outrage displayed on his own campaign site, the Obamasiah completed his flip flop by first not filibustering as promised and then by voting to pass the bill.
All and all an historic day in South Dakota politics. 100% of our Congressional delegation has voted to repeal portions of the 4th Amendment meaning that the large telcoms no longer have to worry about being punished for breaking the law and some of your emails and telephone calls can now be monitored by the government without warrants or probable cause.
July 8th, 2008 by Bob Schwartz
While South Dakota’s Tim Johnson and John Thune as well as the rest of the Senate prepare to erase part of the 4th Amendment from the Constitution later today when they are scheduled to vote on FISA reform, it is only appropriate that Tim Ferriss releases his interview with Daniel Ellsberg, the man responsible for releasing the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times in 1971, on this horrible bill.
Though many Americans for some reason seem indifferent to this legislation, I would still recommend that you watch this interview so that you better understand what your elected officials are doing to your rights.
Remember, it is a lot easier to give up your rights than it is to get them back.
Who is Daniel Ellsberg?
After returning from Vietnam, Ellsberg went back to work at the Rand Corp. As a Vietnam expert, he was invited, in 1967, to contribute to a top-secret study of classified documents regarding the conduct of the Vietnam War that had been commissioned by Defense Secretary McNamara. These documents later became known collectively as the Pentagon Papers. Because he held an extremely high-level security clearance, Ellsberg was one of very few individuals who had access to the complete set of documents. They revealed that the government had knowledge, early on, that the war would not likely be won, and that continuing the war would lead to many times more casualties than was ever admitted publicly. Further, the papers showed that high-ranking officials had a deep cynicism toward the public as well as disregard for the loss of life and injury suffered by soldiers and civilians.
More FISA Reads
The new FISA compromise: it’s worse than you think
A Powerful, Easy Way to Tell Obama to Get FISA Right
July 5th, 2008 by Bob Schwartz
While not quite on the level of the government spying on your phone conversations without a warrant, the next shot in the entertainment industry’s attack on their customers was fired last week in the courts and if you’ve ever watched or uploaded a video to Google’s YouTube, your identity along with your viewing habits will soon be in the hands of media giant Viacom.
Under the terms of a US court judgment, Google, which owns YouTube, must now surrender the details of video-watching histories, IP addresses and usernames, to Viacom, which wants to use the data to prove that the site is hosting thousands of television and other media clips in breach of strict copyright laws.
And even though you may have never watched one of the Viacom owned media clips that the company claims was uploaded illegally, you are about to be put squarely in their crosshairs anyway.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an internet rights group, said the ruling will allow Viacom to see what everyone is watching on YouTube. “We urge Viacom to back off this overbroad request and Google to take all steps necessary to challenge this order and protect the rights of its users,” the group said.
And what makes this funny, if there is any humor to having your privacy invaded, Viacom is targeting the same viral video phenomenon that is responsible for making 2 of their more popular on air personalities household names. Who would have heard of Stephen Colbert or John Stewart if their clips hadn’t shown up on YouTube to be broadcast to the world from there?
July 3rd, 2008 by Bob Schwartz
I will leave the particulars as far as the evils of the FISA bill awaiting the Senate after their holiday break to those that are more knowledgeable than I am but suffice it to say I am extremely disappointed. The disappointment involves not only South Dakota’s 2 national Democrats Tim Johnson and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin who have voted at least once to pass the legislation, Johnson shoots for the double whammy with the vote next week, but with the apparent flip flop of Barack Obama.
I had written extensively over at A South Dakota Moderate on the subject and will not rehash it here but it appears that at least in Barack Obama’s case, his pledge to filibuster any FISA legislation containing Telcom immunity and then subsequent flip flop isn’t going to die without a fight from some of his more loyal supporters.
Along those lines, The Nation has an article this week discussing the grassroots effort to get Obama to keep his promise that has formed on his own campaign site. The effort has gotten so large that it has become the biggest such group on his the site surpassing a student group that has been around for months.
A grassroots group of activists has been organizing on MyBo, Obama’s official social networking portal, to protest the Senator’s recent decision to back controversial legislation granting the President more spying powers. The effort hit a big milestone on Tuesday afternoon: It is now the largest self-organized group on Obama’s website, topping networks that were launched over a year ago. The spying protest, “Senator Obama - Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity - get FISA Right,” launched last week. (See Obama Network Organizes and Revolts Over Spying, The Nation.)
Membership spiked to about 8,900 people on Tuesday, edging out a student group with roughly 8,600 members, and one organizer estimated that the growth rate reached a rapid four percent during the daytime. The group initially spread through the Obama network, since the site’s platform instantly connects members through a dedicated email listserve. On Monday, for example, over 200 emails shot across the wire, reaching the roughly 2,300 members who opted to receive individual messages. The exchanges ranged from policy debates, like whether immunity was acceptable if the telephone companies acted in good faith, to organizing strategies, such as promoting the group on sharing sites like Digg. Then some activists open-sourced the project, creating a wiki-hub for additional actions — from calling Obama’s office to urging Keith Olbermann to promote the group — and launched partner groups on other sites like Facebook. (Update: Total membership over 12,000 as of this writing)
I have long since given up being surprised when politicians go back on their word, heck that is why this site is named “Politics and Hypocrisy” but given the power of Obama’s online fundraising machine, I will be curious to see what if any effect this grassroots effort has on Obama’s decision. Obama’s campaign of change has gone the way of the Susan B. Anthony dollar so now we will see if his core supporters can at least keep him somewhat in line with what they had hoped he would be when they got behind him.
FISA will be the first real test.
UPDATE: Faced with the growing dissention on his own site, Obama responds to critics of his FISA flip flop…yada, yada, yada I could care less what you think.