Please take four minutes NOW to help preserve the People's Freedom from Government Surveillance. The House is voting this afternoon on the FISA Reauthorization "compromise".

While I'm a political moderate, at least in terms of what I think is possible, given the history of human self-government, I am absolutely disgusted with the current capitulation being engineered by the Congressional leadership on the issue of the (p)Resident's illegal wiretapping, and the illegal collusion of the giant Telecoms allowing this to take place.

I highly urge every Parlortricks reader (and every concerned citizen!) to have a look at the urgent update from Moveon.org (below), and CALL Senator Obama's office and tell him to stiffen his resolve against such a deal. (Last October he said he would support a filibuster against it)

Senator Barack Obama
Phone: 202-224-2854

Senators Feingold and Leahy are as outraged as I am about this, and I think our Nominee must come down on this question with a very strong statement that it is NOT time to turn our backs on the Constitution.

The ACLU, EFF, and many other groups have been working for months to defeat this, only to have the Democratic "leadership" -- in particular Rep. Steny Hoyer (see Greenwald article reference in MoveOn footnotes below)-- undermine ongoing efforts to define and determine culpability in the question of ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE of Americans, and the COLLUSION of the major telecoms in this matter.

While I am a strong supporter of Obama's candidacy, it would be a serious undermining of his credibility on civil rights and constitutional issues were he not to reject this "Telecom Immunity"

I highly recommend Glenn Greenwald's series of posts at Salon.com (See MoveOn footnotes below)
Greenwald has been reporting on this issue for many months now, including the numerous times it was thought that public pressure had killed the threat.

However, we see now that just like Count Dracula, these things can arise from the dead unless there's a very dramatic stake put through its heart.

It's time to kill the FISA Capitulation Bill once and for all.

NOTE: Please CALL YOUR SENATORS AS WELL AS OBAMA.
While the House may have already voted, the Senate is the final barrier to this bad law.

Tell Obama (and your other own Senators if you're not from Illinois) that there is noever a good time to turn your back on the Constitution.

Thanks for caring.

Peter

PS, you may very well get voice-mail at Obama's number. I did when I called a few minutes ago.

Just leave a short message, saying you are a supporter of his candidacy, and a constituant (if you are in Illinois), and that you are outraged by the potential Democratic capitulation regarding Telecom Immunity in the FISA reauthorization.



Today's MoveOn.org statement is here:
Yesterday, some congressional Democrats cut a deal to let companies that helped President Bush break the law off the hook. Barack Obama's promised to oppose such a bill in the past. Can you tell him we're counting on him to stand strong against "immunity" for lawbreaking phone companies?

Senator Barack Obama
Phone: 202-224-2854


Dear MoveOn member,
Yesterday it was announced that some congressional Democrats cut a deal with President Bush to give a get-out-of-jail-free card to phone companies that helped Bush illegally spy on innocent Americans.1 Senator Russ Feingold says the "deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation."2

Barack Obama took a bold stance on this issue last year, vowing to "support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."3 We need him to announce that he'll continue this strong position when the bad "deal" is voted on in the Senate.

Can you call Senator Obama today and tell him you're counting on him to keep his word and stand strong against immunity for lawbreaking phone companies?

Senator Barack Obama
Phone: 202-224-2854

Please help us track our progress by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSIL_2&cp_id=759

These companies helped the Bush Administration illegally spy on the emails and phone calls of innocent Americans. By giving "immunity" to these companies, all lawsuits brought against them by civil liberties groups would be thrown out of court. That means we may never find out how far Bush went in breaking the law. And once it's done, it can't be undone.

Supporters of today's deal say it doesn't guarantee immunity—it just kicks the issue to a court to decide. But that's deceptive. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) points out:

"It gives [Bush's] attorney general the power to decide if cases against telecommunications companies will proceed. The AG only has to certify to the FISA court that the company didn't spy or did so with a permission slip from the president. A note from the president is not a legal defense. Allowing phone companies to avoid litigation by simply presenting a 'permission slip' from the president is not court review."4 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group working with the ACLU to hold these companies accountable, adds, "whatever gloss might be put on it, the so-called 'compromise' on immunity for phone companies that broke the law is anything but a compromise...no matter how they spin it, this is still immunity, period."5
President Bush and the phone companies know that the facts are against them. A judge appointed by President Bush's father already wrote one opinion finding that "AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal."6

But we'll never know how far their illegal actions went unless we fight back now. Can you tell Barack Obama you're counting on him to keep his word and stand strong against immunity for lawbreaking phone companies?

Senator Barack Obama
Phone: 202-224-2854

Please help us track our progress by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSIL_2&cp_id=759

Thanks for all you do,

–Nita, Adam G., Patrick, Ilyse, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
  Friday, June 20th, 2008

Sources:

1. "George Bush's latest powers, courtesy of the Democratic Congress," Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com, June 19, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3820&id=12919-1021210-C9I7Bbx&t=5

2. "Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On the FISA Deal," Statement of Senator Russ Feingold, June 19, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3822&id=12919-1021210-C9I7Bbx&t=6

3. "Obama Camp Says It: He'll Support Filibuster Of Any Bill Containing Telecom Immunity," Greg Sargent at TPM Election Central, October 24, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3828&id=12919-1021210-C9I7Bbx&t=7

4. "Facts on the Senator Kit Bond's (R-Mo.) FISA Proposal," June 13, 2008 http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spying/35652res20080613.html

5. "Prepared Statement of Eff Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston on Immunity 'Compromise,'" Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 18, 2008
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/EFF_bankston.pdf

6. "Targeting Steny Hoyer for his contempt for the rule of law," Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com, June 17, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3821&id=12919-1021210-C9I7Bbx&t=8

Peter Fraterdeus
Exquisite Letterpress
http://slowprint.com