MGx - Musings, Essays & Ballads

The US government was created by, for and of the people and operates at the ‘consent’ of the governed. Governments provide and maintain infrastructure and services for the public benefit and are also charged with maintaining order and enforcing public safety. The US Constitution is designed to ensure government serve the people for […]

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Rachel Maddow discusses the Senate action on FISA
“What if Congress had responded to Watergate by immunizing the executive branch’s lawbreakers and giving Richard Nixon sweeping new powers to snoop?
“Oh, wait! They just did! They just took thirty years or so to get around to it.”
Video from Rawstory

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain […]

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Feingold speaks to urge Congress to support the Dodd amendment and strike telecom immunity from the bill.

Video from Rawstory

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Read the transcript here

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Russ Feingold discusses FISA, from Rawstory Regarding blanket immunity and the evisceration of the 4th Amendment
“This is an astonishing giveaway,” Feingold said.
The FISA update passed the House Friday, less than 24 hours after it was released. The bill was crafted after negotiations among moderate Democrats, Republicans, the White House and telecommunications lobbyists. The Senate […]

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Not having been sold on Obama I am not as heartbroken as some on his capitulation of the FISA bill, nevertheless as Glenn Greenwald says it is more than a little dispiriting. From TPM
Glenn Greenwald, a leading critic of Obama on this, sends me his skeptical take on why he thinks Obama’s promise to […]

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According to Peter DeFazio’s office, he voted NO. Good for him.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act update passed 293-129, with support from just 107 Democrats. Opposing the measure were 126 Democrats and one Republican, according to an unofficial count on C-SPAN.
More on this later, after a long bike ride to collect my thoughts and cool […]

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Russ Feingold is one of the few truly courageous legislators we have on Capitol Hill.
“The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation. The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, which effectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged to have participated in the President’s illegal program, and which […]

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Essentially the democrats have sold us all down the river to cover their own asses

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While being interviewed by a foreign journalist today it was hard not to notice the echo on the phone line. Sad that we are freely tapped without any regard for our privacy and while I can’t say for sure that was the reason, I have had overseas calls absent the electronic feedback.

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It was close, 217-197 but the House managed to pass a bill that does not include retroactive immunity for telecoms involved in illegal wiretapping. President Bush has promised to dig in his heels and veto any bill not including immunity. Nevertheless, a big thank you to those who got this bill passed as […]

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Transcript at Rawstory

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Apparently our domestic mail has been opened without benefit of warrants needing only the approval of the US Postal Inspection Service Director. Each day our freedoms erode further and further and we can thank the extended use of signing statements for some of it.
There’s reason to believe more mail may be being opened, as […]

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This is just amazing! The existing FISA laws allow the government to obtain a warrant and spy on US citizens. There is a 72 hour window where they can spy first and get the warrant second. There is no emergency and yet the House Intelligence Committee appears to be willing to write in […]

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This is a clever parody concerning the FISA bill.

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