Just after the 4th of july holiday, the US Senate came back in session and gutted the 4th Amendment. It is the one that gives us citizens the right "to be secure in their persons, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Senators passed the horrendous House bill regarding FISA. This bill, among other things, gave telecoms immunity from lawsuits challenging their actions regarding 'warrentless wiretapping.' In other words the telecoms get to walk away scott free after helping the government violate the 4th Amendment. The Senate capitulated to Bush and in an afternoon ripped the Constitution asunder. In an afternoon 69 cowards gave the president dictatorial powers to continue to spy on any American citizen, anywhere, at anytime, for any reason. The president does not have to ask a court, a judge, Congress, or any person or enitity on Earth in order to spy on you or me. This sounds like Soviet Russia to me, or some other totalitarian regime.
Only one major American phone company said no to the illegal government spying on U.S. citizens-QWEST The CEO Joseph Nacchio refused and was later prosecuted for insider trading.
But now people can sign up with CREDO Mobile They have donated to the ACLU, who has been fighting this horried bill for some time. In 2008 CREDO plans to donate money to groups like Center for Constitutional Rights which according to the Center's web site was "[F]ounded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South . . ." They have also filed a case in this very matter CCR vs. Bush
I didn't find any where on their web site where they say they will make the government follow the law and actually get a warrant. I hope CREDO makes them do this before it allows Dear Leader and his apparatchiks to spy on us. The basic plan with 200 anytime minutes is $29.99 a month. You can add unlimted texting for $9.99 a month. They have plans for fams and biz too. So check it out. do good for yourself and your fellow citizens.
UPDATE: CREDO also recycles old phones and sends phone cards to American Service Men and Women. That is one way to support the troops.
Senators passed the horrendous House bill regarding FISA. This bill, among other things, gave telecoms immunity from lawsuits challenging their actions regarding 'warrentless wiretapping.' In other words the telecoms get to walk away scott free after helping the government violate the 4th Amendment. The Senate capitulated to Bush and in an afternoon ripped the Constitution asunder. In an afternoon 69 cowards gave the president dictatorial powers to continue to spy on any American citizen, anywhere, at anytime, for any reason. The president does not have to ask a court, a judge, Congress, or any person or enitity on Earth in order to spy on you or me. This sounds like Soviet Russia to me, or some other totalitarian regime.
Only one major American phone company said no to the illegal government spying on U.S. citizens-QWEST The CEO Joseph Nacchio refused and was later prosecuted for insider trading.
But now people can sign up with CREDO Mobile They have donated to the ACLU, who has been fighting this horried bill for some time. In 2008 CREDO plans to donate money to groups like Center for Constitutional Rights which according to the Center's web site was "[F]ounded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South . . ." They have also filed a case in this very matter CCR vs. Bush
I didn't find any where on their web site where they say they will make the government follow the law and actually get a warrant. I hope CREDO makes them do this before it allows Dear Leader and his apparatchiks to spy on us. The basic plan with 200 anytime minutes is $29.99 a month. You can add unlimted texting for $9.99 a month. They have plans for fams and biz too. So check it out. do good for yourself and your fellow citizens.
UPDATE: CREDO also recycles old phones and sends phone cards to American Service Men and Women. That is one way to support the troops.
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http://www.examiner.com/a-1500738~Land_of_the_free__home_of_the_monitored.html
Editorial
Land of the free, home of the monitored
The Baltimore Examiner Newspaper
2008-07-23
BALTIMORE -
In a story that would seem right at home in the former Eastern bloc countries, the ACLU revealed last week state police spied on law-abiding peace activists and death penalty opponents for 14 months.
Undercover Maryland state troopers attended protests and meetings of three groups from March 2005 to May 2006, logging at least 288 hours on the project, and shared the information with federal, state and county agencies. No reports indicated any member of the groups, Baltimore Pledge of Resistance, the Coalition to End the Death Penalty and the Committee to Save Vernon Evans, committed a crime. Yet agents recommended that monitoring continue and even placed one activist, Max Obuszewski, in a database funded by the federal government to help federal, state and local law enforcement share information on drug traffickers and terrorists.
State police said they did not impinge on any of the activists’ civil liberties. But how do their actions abide with the First Amendement’s guarantee that “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”?
They don’t. As David Rocah, a staff attorney for the ACLU, said, “In our America, you should be able to attend a meeting about an issue you care about without having to worry that government spies are entering your name into a database used to track alleged terrorists and drug traffickers.”
The ACLU had to file a lawsuit to get the information. So what is the average citizen to do without the financial means to stand up to the government?
And who is monitoring the monitors? Wouldn’t six months of surveillance without evidence of wrongdoing be enough to halt the investigation? And will Mr. Obuszewski face unwarranted scrutiny at airports, from the Internal Revenue Service or in his day-to-day dealings with the government?
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., called for a “full accounting” of surveillance activities by federal, state and local officials. At the very least, state police must reveal who ordered the surveillance and whether then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich and Baltimore City Mayor Martin O’Malley supported the investigation. And federal law enforcement officials must prove they have removed Mr. Obuszewski from all watch lists implicating him as a potential terrorist.
How ironic is it that as young men and women volunteer their lives to die for the freedom of Iraqis and the people of Afghanistan, our own government violates its most basic principles at home.
Incidents like this show how important a vigorous press and freedom of information laws are to holding the government accountable when it oversteps its bounds. As President Ronald Reagan was fond of saying of the Soviet Union, “Trust, but verify.” As citizens, we must not be afraid of holding our government to account. The ACLU deserves a resounding thank you for it’s fearlessness in fighting this encroachment on our most fundamental of rights.
Examiner
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