For some heretofore unknown reason, Congressional Democrats seem determined to help the Republican Party destroy what's left of the Constitution. You may not have heard of the latest round of Amendment-shredding, mostly because our
right wing press doesn't want you to know how severely the country is dying. Our Constitution has something called the 4
th Amendment, which states, "
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 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." This has been construed, quite reasonably, to cover not only physical "searches and seizures", but also more ethereal possessions such as emails, phone calls, and all other forms of electronic communication. In other words, nobody is supposed to be able to tap your phone, collect your emails, capture your texts, or read your computer's files without probable cause, to be determined by a judge who would then issue a warrant. Otherwise, the government would be able to break in to your house and take all your stuff (or record all of your phone calls and emails) for no reason except that someone wants to. Idiots say, "Hey, if you have nothing to hide, why would you need protection?" To which I say, "So, you're
ok with having all of your hard earned possessions seized by the government or the police? What the hell's wrong with you?" The point of the 4
th Amendment, other than the obvious restriction on the enactment of a police state by anyone in power, is to help protect people
from the government's ability to overwhelm the resources of the individual to speak and write freely, even when in opposition to that government.
You see, 7 years ago--
before 9/11/01, by the way--
Smirky, Dick, and the boys began coercing the
telecom industry into allowing the government spooks to tap (literally) into the phone lines of everybody in this country, in order to create a massive database of conversations. The why is completely irrelevant, but like any good legal drama, motive goes a long way to explaining how a crime is committed. The goal of those who fight to undermine the 4
th Amendment is to eliminate political opposition by finding weaknesses and dirt. This should sound familiar to anyone who remembers a scandal from decades past--Watergate. It was Nixon's dream to have at his disposal the conversations taking place beyond his reach, and now his henchmen are finally succeeding in achieving that vision.
You see, the telecoms rolled over in this anti-Constitutional ploy--except for
Qwest, who refused, and for its principled stand lost all its government contracts--and are now in the process of getting sued by some people who discovered that they were being spied upon. The costs of legal discovery, whereby all records of
telecom illegalities would be exposed to the light of day, would be enormous given the sheer bulk of conversations recorded. Each instance of violation--every single phone call made by every American, in other words--would be liable for prosecution. Clearly, even if an award of damage of just $1 per call were levied, and probably even much less than that, the telecoms would be bankrupted instantly. Beyond that, though, the telecoms would also have to release records showing that the Bush Administration ordered this mass violation of our rights. Unless, of course, they could somehow be relieved of their legal responsibilities.
And that is where our supposedly Democratic Congress is playing its role. In a most sickeningly ironic twist, a bill for revising the
anti-Watergate
FISA regulation (which provides for the judicial "oversight" of attaining warrants for domestic tapping), which has already passed the Senate, is going to be on the House floor this week. This bill includes a provision granting retroactive amnesty for the telecoms that have been allowing the government to spy on us for over 7 years, and it is becoming quite clear that a majority of our politicians in Congress have no problem passing this abortion.
To sum up, Congress is going to enable the Executive Branch of the Federal government to spy on anyone/everyone it wants to without any safeguards or legal pretense, thereby gutting the 4
th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Under most circumstances, we the people would have one last recourse--the Supreme Court, who has the responsibility of making sure Congress passes no law that is unconstitutional, just like this one. After 28 years of right wing packing, however, the Republican-dominated Court is highly unlikely to rule that way. 4 of the current Court members are
already on record as supporting this kind of Executive Branch power. (Does the phrase "Unitary Executive" ring any bells out there? It should for anybody who was paying attention during the confirmation hearings of Roberts and
Alito.) It only takes one more vote to complete this evisceration of a right that has stood for 232 years. And remember, 3 of the remaining 5 justices were appointed by Republican Presidents also.
So, you might want to get used to the idea that the government has the power to know everything you say and do, even/especially when you are at "home".
Labels: 4th Amendment, Congress, Executive Branch, Supreme Court, Telecom immunity
