Nowian’s Law: Following the path of least resistance is what makes politicians and rivers crooked. (Source: Murphy’s Law: The 26th Anniversary Edition)

Young’s Law of Bureaucracy: It is dead wood that holds up the tree. Corollary: Just because it is still standing doesn’t mean it’s not dead. (Source: Murphy’s Law: The 26th Anniversary Edition)

–
Raphael
GOP candidates on Iraq (video)

The bill is nothing more than a de facto repeal of the Fourth Amendment; allowing the federal government to eavesdrop on American citizens at will without probable cause and with no warrant. It gives the attorney general (instead of a judge) the power to determine the legality of wiretaps of US CITIZENS.

WHO CARES ABOUT TELECOM IMMUNITY – THE ENTIRE BILL NEEDS TO BE DEFEATED. It is an illegal bill, even if congress passes it – they are not allowed to amend the Constitution by legislation.

So the fact that you are asking for immunity makes me think you HAVE done something wrong. Maybe many somethings wrong.

And no, I don’t believe you anymore when you say, “Trust me, Uncle Dickey. You’ve burned me once too many times on that one.

“… all your civil liberties are belong to us. Har-har-harrrggghggrrrrr……”

Cheers,

“But out of the gobbledygook, comes a very clear thing: [unclear] you can’t trust the government; you can’t believe what they say; and you can’t rely on their judgment; and the – the implicit infallibility of presidents, which has been an accepted thing in America, is badly hurt by this, because it shows that people do things the President wants to do even though it’s wrong, and the President can be wrong.” –H.R. Haldeman to President Nixon, Monday, 14 June 1971, 3:09 p.m. meeting. (Source)

Yes, parts of the conversation are contradictory. I won’t take responsibility for what a lot of other posters here say, and I personally have had my own arguments w/ folks here more than once.

I’m not quite sure comparing the telecomm immunity issue to illegal immigration is quite valid. I suppose you could make the case that the law is the law, and all things should be equal before it, but the 2 situations are quite different. The illegal immigration mess has been decades in the making, and involves MILLIONS of people on both sides of the border.

A bad situation that’s only getting worse? Yes.

The telecomm thing is due to the actions of a few people at the top of the govt, and their counterparts at the corps they dealt w/. What’s that old saying, “One lawyer can steal more money w/ his briefcase and pen than all the armed gunmen in the world”? That seems appropriate here. This particular item – domestic spying – is just part and parcel of a boarder tendency towards blatantly criminal behavior on the part of the Brusch Admin.

Clearly illegal immigration has become a MAJOR problem for this country, and so far, we’re not getting any practical solutions here AT ALL. I think this is due in part to the fact that one of the real needs here is fixing the Mexican economy, and NO ONE wants to touch that one.

And yes, at one level, there is a certain degree of contradiction there, and I don’t defend all of it.

Engage in double talk much?

I thought you were a troll there for a minute, but subsequent posts have persuaded me otherwise. Sorry about my original comment.

Comment by gummitch — January 31, 2008 @ 3:04 pm

Disgustingly enough, that was Feinstein’s rationale for immunity… she didn’t want the poor telecomms to be crippled by the legal costs. Damn the Constitution and the credibility of our government, Di… what we really need to be worried about here is the cost of breaking the law???? Sheesh.

Thank Gawd yer retiring, Di.

Yer time has come… and is gone… long, long, long gone. Buh-bye!!

may they both suffer a slooooooww and painful death.