Congress now has the chance to do nothing and make it count.

The Fourth Amendment

"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."

As we watch the primary races lets not take our eyes off the scoundrels that we have allowed to erode our constitutional rights one by one. As one of the worst congresses ever and some would argue that the 109th congress was the worst. I disagree because those scoundrels where the bad guys and we knew that. The 110th congress was elected to right the wrongs that the Bush / Cheney regime heaped on America and did little except wring their hands and say woe we don’t have the 60 votes.

Congress now has the chance to do nothing and make it count. On February 8th 2008 this abomination to our constitutional rights will expire. Last August 2007 the Protect America Act was rushed through congress legalizing executive branch domestic wiretapping without warrants.

It’s incredible that this was passed in the first place because this administration has been breaking FISA laws which require warrants to snoop on Americans and ignoring the 4th Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures since February 2001 well before September 11th.

Congress reconvenes January 22nd 2008, Senate Majority leader Harry (hapless) Reid plans to bring an unacceptable bill S. 2248 to the Senate floor for a vote. This bill contains retroactive immunity for the poor misguided telecom companies who handed over the private communications of Americans to Bush / Cheney Company without being served warrants to do so.

It boggles my mind that even with the incredible mandate we gave congress in 2006 that they would even consider rubberstamping the shredding of our 4th amendment rights and give immunity retroactively to the Bush / Cheney administration and their Telecom pals.

There is however a Judiciary Committee version of this bill which contains 4th Amendment fixes and does not provide immunity to the telecom industry. This bill is subject to floor amendments that could weaken the bill. The president has promised a veto of the bill if it doesn’t grant immunity to the telecoms.

The best way to kill this abomination is to let it expire on its own because even King George W. can’t veto the natural expiration of a law.

Call your Senators and demand that congress restore 4th Amendment protections of Americans private communications and emails by letting the Protect America Act expire on February 8th 2008. Only if that fails should the Senate consider the Judiciary Committee version of S. 2248. There is no other reason to grant immunity to the Telecoms other than to protect the guilty and hide the truth from the American people.

Peace and Liberty through intelligence, strength, and integrity.

OpEd News
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