With the passage of a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the Senate, it seems as if Obama is finally OK with warrantless wiretaps. With the civil liberties of Americans allegedly being shredded with every tapped phone call, his vote is quite unnerving. But this vote could sway independents and centrist Democrats. …
In a frightening scenario, it’s plainly true that if certain terrorist plots aren’t stopped, many more Americans would die. The Constitution states the president will protect Americans from enemies foreign and domestic (Article 4, Section 4).
What’s better is that the reauthorization of FISA granted retroactive immunity to telecoms that cooperated with the government after the 9/11 attacks. One must remember that the trial lawyers would benefit from telecom companies not being exempted.
Evidently the ACLU purports that the FISA Amendments Act is unconstitutional. On July 14, Townhall.com columnist Debra J. Saunders (“Wiretapping and Toe Tapping”) quoted an ACLU statement as saying: “It places virtually no restrictions on the government’s targeting of people outside the U.S., even if those targets are communicating with U.S. citizens and residents.”
And one wonders why there has been no terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland since 9/11.
With the billions and billions of calls made in the United States every day, it would be physically impossible to monitor all communications. Because of the sheer number of calls made, only those from suspected terrorists would be monitored. And because of that immense number, only a very few of those are actually recorded. … It seems anyone not talking to a terrorist with plans to kill as many Americans as possible would never have to worry about their conversations being tapped.
The administration has already been working with Verizon, AT&T and BellSouth. In a letter to supporters, Obama stated, “Given the choice between voting for an improved yet imperfect bill, and losing important surveillance tools, I’ve chosen to support the current compromise.” Has Obama finally seen the light, or is he using a typical campaign ploy to lure voters?
— Kevin Roeten
Asheville
“The administration has already been working with Verizon, AT&T;and BellSouth. In a letter to supporters, Obama stated, “Given the choice between voting for an improved yet imperfect bill, and losing important surveillance tools, I’ve chosen to support the current compromise.” Has Obama finally seen the light, or is he using a typical campaign ploy to lure voters?”
Good question. Obama obviously is quite willing to veer right, sometimes way right, in order to gather blue dog democrats and independents to get elected. After all, he has already completely reversed himself on Iraq and now supports McCain’s position that it would take up to 16 months to withdraw from Iraq. Obama also added that the decision would depend on what is happening currently on the ground, echoes of President Bush’s position.
But then again, Obama is the candidate of the far leftwing New York Times, and the ACLU. So where does he really stand? Is he just an empty suit who simply is trying to get elected? We’ll see as we get closer to November. But one can always play it safe and vote John McCain. That’s my course of action.