Sasquatch
10-11-2007, 09:49 AM
The House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees on Wednesday approved legislation that would set new limits on the nation's intelligence agencies in conducting surveillance, domestically and abroad. The bill is a continuation of the conflict between the President and congressional Democrats, who reluctantly agreed to a temporary GOP measure that was heavily criticized by their base and liberal bloggers. The Washington Post reports Bush "and other Republicans stepped up their attacks" on the proposed legislation, "escalating a partisan battle over the boundaries of US spying." The two House panels "approved bills that would require the government to get approval from a special intelligence court for blanket surveillance of targets overseas." But Bush "warned that he would not sign the Democratic legislation unless it gives US telecommunications firms retroactive immunity from lawsuits." The Hill says Bush "wasted little time in criticizing" the bill, saying it would be a "grave mistake to weaken" the current laws. USA Today notes Bush argued that immunity is necessary because "companies...are facing multibillion-dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend our nation." USA Today also lists the House bill's proposed changes.
So, let me get this straight.
Bush signed executive orders which bypassed mandated checks against spying on Americans. Those checks were done in response to the Nixon Whitehouse which was spying on american citizens. It created a court called FISA which was a closed-door oversight committee for when spying would be deemed necessary. This same FISA court approved wiretaps 99% of the time. But that wasn't good enough for Bush. He intentionally bypassed the law and got busted.
Now, he won't allow a new law unless companies who went along with his illegal acts
Sure, you can say they were "defending our nation". You can also say that telecom companies have as many lawyers as Microsoft and knew they weren't allowed to do these acts. Bush is basically admitting everything they did was wrong, but doesn't want to be punished for it. Boo hoo.
The Magna carta is 750 years old, but it still limits the powers of kings.
So, let me get this straight.
Bush signed executive orders which bypassed mandated checks against spying on Americans. Those checks were done in response to the Nixon Whitehouse which was spying on american citizens. It created a court called FISA which was a closed-door oversight committee for when spying would be deemed necessary. This same FISA court approved wiretaps 99% of the time. But that wasn't good enough for Bush. He intentionally bypassed the law and got busted.
Now, he won't allow a new law unless companies who went along with his illegal acts
Sure, you can say they were "defending our nation". You can also say that telecom companies have as many lawyers as Microsoft and knew they weren't allowed to do these acts. Bush is basically admitting everything they did was wrong, but doesn't want to be punished for it. Boo hoo.
The Magna carta is 750 years old, but it still limits the powers of kings.