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But I think I like the Democrats more than the Republicans right now. Even though they both fail miserably in my eyes. Why is it SO hard to recognize that we, as human beings, have certain inalienable rights? Why is it SO easy for politicians to think it is okay to violate those rights for “security” and “information?” WHY don’t WE as CITIZENS and PEOPLE understand what is being lost?

If you haven’t heard yet, the revised FISA bill just passed in the Senate (69-28 currently) and is headed to President Bush’s desk where it will be signed into law and grant immunity to all the telecommunication companies who illegally spied on us as citizens. It also makes it about as simple as possible for the government to spy on its OWN citizens without a warrant. I hope you enjoyed what little privacy you had before, because it’s gone now.

Here are a few links to an article about the FISA vote as well as the votes themselves:
FISA Fight: Attack Of The Epic Failure, Senate Votes, Most Recent Senate Bills & Votes, and the ACLU pretty much sums this one up.

I suppose it’s too much to ask everyone to start encrypting their e-mails they send to me? Not that it matters, the government can easily decrypt it anyway… :(

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I’ve just written to my senators, telling them to oppose granting immunity for lawbreaking phone companies. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has all the details. You really should contact them too.  This is not an issue we can just let slip by.  If we do we will begin the slippery slope to ignoring all essential rights within the Bill of Rights and our nation will be one thread less as it hangs from its line of floss already.

Please take action on this within the next day.  The vote is left in the hands of the Senate now as the House has already approved the bill.  We all know that President Bush doesn’t respect the rights of privacy that our citizen’s are entitled to and there is no chance of a veto as a result.  If we can’t get 41 senators to vote no then we can kiss a large portion of our 4th amendment rights good-bye.

I am not at liberty to discuss some of the things I know. But I promise that the things that our government is able to spy on is ONLY limited by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and USSID 18.  These are the two laws that restrict spying to not include US Citizens without a warrant (even if it is a ’secret’ warrant due to classification stuff).

President Bush wants to let the telecomm companies off the hook for violating the rights of United States citizen’s by not punishing them or allowing them to be taken to court for turning over records, phone calls, etc. that were not required by a warrant.  Such blatant infringements on the rights protected by the Bill of Rights has not happened in a very long time.  There is no “gray” line here.  It is simple black and white.  Do NOT allow this to sit idly in your mind.  If you value your rights contact your senators NOW!

I personally have not had a chance to watch the following video yet as I’m at work.  However, a friend of mine has highly suggested watching this video to get more details about this issue and help you be more informed regarding its significance and consequences.

Sincerely, your brother in alarm,

Steven Haddox

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