« The consequences. | Main | Cat blogging. »
What were you thinking?
By Tom | August 4, 2007
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate once again was cowed into submission by the White House and passed a bill amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to expand the powers of the NSA to spy on the communications of “terrorists” even though in the process, they will almost certainly be capturing the communications of American citizens without a warrant. This because a FISA Court judge apparently caught them at it a few months ago and ruled the activity illegal.
While it’s refreshing that the White House chose to change the law rather than flip off the judge, it doesn’t excuse what the Senate has done. Here is the statement of my Senator, Jim Webb:
Yesterday I supported two measures to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. These measures were considered against the backdrop of heightened concerns from our nation’s intelligence community abut the threat of international terrorism. The ramifications of the two amendments before us last night were not political. Instead they related to the urgent demands of national security. I chose to heed those warnings. We now have six months to work in earnest to bring full accountability to the process. This distinction and the threats to national security were stated clearly by Admiral McConnell as well as four of the eight Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. These members, Senators Feinstein, Mikulski, Bayh, and Bill Nelson, have extensive experience on intelligence matters and are respected champions of civil rights and liberties. They chose to give significant weight and deference to the intelligence community on FISA reform, and so did I.
Senator, I know you like plain talk, so here it is, as plainly as I can say it:
What were you thinking?
Has it not dawned on you that every time the White House wants more power they make sure there is a “credible threat” to justify it — even if they have to make one up?
When was the last time anyone from the administration told you anything that wasn’t a deceitful misdirection or an outright lie?
Do you think this gets you or Democrats off the hook if the unthinkable happens? Do you not realize that when it comes time to fix blame they’ll come looking for you anyway?
I voted for better than that.
Topics: Virginia Politics, Politics |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.