January 23, 2008

Stop the insanity immunity

Why in hell are the Democrats (led by Harry Reid for reasons I don't understand) being pushed to go along with the (minority) Republicans' efforts to get FISA passed in compliance with Bush's demand that the telecommunications companies be granted immunity for all their wiretapping help? That makes no sense; if a company was complicit with something it knew was illegal, it should be subject to the law (as should the government officials who persuaded them, but that's another story).

Anyway, it seems to me that Senator Chris Dodd deserves some help in his attempt to derail this, and right now there are three Senators running for President (Clinton, McCain, Obama); to my knowledge none of them have said much recently about their opposition to immunity. CREDO (formerly Working Assets) has created a letter it will send to the three Senators asking them to come back to DC and fight this bill along with Senator Dodd. If you think granting AT&T, Verizon and the others blanket immunity for any criminal activity they might have committed over the past 5 or 6 years, sign it.

Text:

You want to be our President, but we need your leadership today as a Senator.

I'm writing today to urge you in the strongest terms possible NOT to support retroactive immunity for big telecom companies that helped the Bush administration spy on Americans without warrants. America needs you to leave the campaign trail and return to Washington to support a potential filibuster by Senator Dodd to protect our civil liberties in the wiretapping bill and stop retroactive immunity.

Letting big telecoms off the hook for their wrongdoing would derail the pursuit of justice in the ongoing investigations of the wiretapping scandal. Ongoing lawsuits are vital in bringing to light the role of the Bush administration in spying on its own citizens, and granting amnesty would render those cases moot.

We cannot allow there to be two standards for justice in America; retroactive immunity for the telecoms would severely undermine the rule of law. We need you to do everything in your power to stop this pernicious legislation.

Please support Senator Dodd in his efforts to ensure that any FISA updates keep Bush and the telecoms accountable and protect our civil liberties, while working toward the common goal of protecting America.

We need you in Washington for this fight. Are the Fourth Amendment and the rule of law important to you? Will you leave the campaign trail and join Senator Dodd for this fight?

I look forward to your response to my letter.

Posted by Linkmeister at January 23, 2008 09:32 AM | TrackBack
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