Spy Bill 'Compromise' Still Gives Amnesty to Telcoms, But Adds Trappings of Justice
House and Senate leaders are still bargaining over how far to expand the government's domestic spying powers and whether to grant retroactive legal amnesty to companies that violated federal privacy laws by helping the government spy on Americans.
But if a proposal from the top Republican from the Senate Intelligence committee is any indicator, telecom amnesty would be all but assured in any final bill.
Last Thursday, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Missouri) announced his version of a compromise (.pdf), which would move 40 or so lawsuits facing telecoms accused of helping the government warrantlessly spy on Americans to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Bond has been working with Rep. Steny Hoyer, from the House leadership, who has been a vocal opponent of telecom amnesty.
On what planet has Hoyer been an opponent of telecom immunity?
It is truly sad to see politicians with so little regard for their oath of office.
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Weakness, Thy Name Is Democrat
Can't say I'm surprised at all. I'm sure Rockefeller will have it greased in the Senate. Yes, life is so much better with the Democrats controlling Congress isn't it? An end to the Iraq war. A return to the rule of law. The rejection of nominees for judge like Southwick and others. Defunding illegal spying programs. It's all a breath of fresh air.
I can honestly say I do not feel badly about my decision to send not one damned dime to the Democratic party or any of its fundraising affliliates this year. I'll direct my support to candidates that deserve it. A list that seems to get shorter by the day.
Help needed on setting up proxy servers
for obvious reasons. The Google hits seem to come up with *.ru sites on top, and that makes me more than a little dubious.
So, I need a good generic site on proxification for both OS X and Windoze.... TIA.
[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
man. this burns me up
things like this are another reason why i don't give a damn whether the dem party wins in november or not.
the senate and the house have buried teleco immunity twice before, the last time, strongly.
now hoyer and jello jay rockefeller are playing footsie with the republicans
and have raised it from the dead,
while everyone else is watching the nomination drama and reed and pelosi are working in a manner that will insure clinton's defeat by a tiny percent of the total vote.
obama's nomination is not only a travesty of sound party activity;
it is a damn good excuse to start cleaning house in the democratic party.
"to expand the government’s domestic spying powers"
--unbelievable (but expected, given this Congress)
Setting aside immunity for a second, this "expand" spying part is chilling.
wow
I had missed that part. It is incredible that they expect us to volunteer in their campaigns and thereby put us at risk, but take no steps to protect us from harrassment.
lambert, does the EFF provide any guidelines
for proxy server setup?
Instructables?