According to an official memorandum from yesterday, the Administration has declared that it will veto any version of the FISA legislation that doesn't offer retroactive immunity to the telephone companies that broke the current surveillance laws (Qwest being the big exception who followed the rules). Now, I know that this plays straight into the would-be fascists at Move-On's hands, but if the updates to the FISA legislation really are as important to USian lives as Bush claims they are, why on Earth is he willing to see it derailed to protect phone companies? They're concerned that companies "might be less willing to assist the Government" by, essentially, violating Federal law.
This means either:
a) protecting the US is less important than papering over violations of federal law (ominous), or
b) the administration firmly believes that it cannot protect the US from within the confines of the law (even more ominous).
It reminds me of the famous Franklin quote about freedom & security....
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
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