Friday, June 20, 2008

What am I missing?

So today the House of Representatives approved the revised FISA bill that includes a "compromise" to the telecom immunity. As usual, Glen Greenwald at Salon explains the issues brilliantly. If the government can initiate a wiretap immediately and has 72 hours to get a court approval after the fact then what is the problem? Historically, the FISA court has approved nearly all government requests. And if the telco companies broke the law by letting the administration bully them shouldn't they be held accountable? It boggles the mind that conservatives are not up in arms that the government can strongarm telco companies to spy on our communications. Since when are conservatives for more government oversight?

At this point it appears that FISA is a done deal. The only solution now is to direct your campaign contributions to candidates that opposed the FISA "compromise". The House vote is here and the Senate votes next week.