S. 1959 and telecom immunity: yet ANOTHER letter to Harry Reid

i strongly encourage everyone to contact their own senators as soon as possible...

Dear Senator Reid,

I am writing to urgently request your cooperation on two issues.

The first is retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that is being considered for inclusion in the current bill updating FISA. Inclusion of this provision would be a serious mistake. The telecommunications companies are responsible, just like the rest of us, for obeying the law, and being asked to violate the law, even if the request comes from the president of the United States, does not release these companies from criminal accountability. Our nation has always prided itself on adherence to the rule of law and, just because our president chooses not to follow the law, does not invalidate compliance with the law. You must oppose this provision at all costs.

Secondly, S. 1959, the Violent Radicalisation and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, is coming up for Senate review after passage by the House. Given the sweeping abrogation of civil liberties, aided and abetted by a deliberate, seven-year campaign to instill fear in our citizens by the Bush administration, this legislation is both superfluous and potentially dangerous. Superfluous because the work is already being done and has been done for many years by the FBI, and numerous universities and think-tanks.

Representative Harman believes this type of inquiry could benefit the country. I see no need for duplication of existing efforts, but, moreover, I also see the establishment of this commission as a platform for launching additional assaults on our constitution and our civil liberties. The Center for Constitutional Rights asks precisely what is meant by the term "extremist belief system," as set forth in the bill, and that was my precise question when I first read the text of the bill.

In today's climate, Senator Reid, a person like myself who vigorously opposes the war in Iraq, any military intervention in Iran, the Patriot Act, the Protect America Act, the Military Commissions Act, domestic surveillance, the suspension of habeas corpus for terrorist detainees, torture in any form, extraordinary rendition, secret CIA prisons, and the entire concept of the unitary executive, I could easily be characterized as holding an "extremist belief system" myself. In fact, if you follow traditional media, as I'm sure you do, you will quickly agree that many of my fellow citizens who share similar perspectives are already being lumped into that category. The day that those of us who are passionate about the founding principles of our country are labeled as "extremists" is the day that the United States as we have come to know it will be officially pronounced dead.

Senator, we simply cannot permit our country to continue to abandon our founding principles. You, sir, have, in my opinion, been far too willing to proceed down this path and your leadership in preventing it, if it exists at all, has been less than visible to me. It's time that you drew your own line in the sand, as well as one for the Senate Democrats you purport to lead. Do everything in your power to resist telecom immunity and S. 1959.

Best regards,

let's hope i'm not just wasting more bandwidth...

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