By D. Cupples (photo from White House) | Retroactive immunity for telecom companies that
illegally aided the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program is about more than whether bored agents listen to naughty chats between you and your sweetheart. It's about massive potential for abuse. Remember, the Nixon Administration illegally wiretapped Americans who disagreed with Nixon politically.
Yesterday, the Senate began debating whether to grant retroactive immunity to telecoms (a.k.a., Telecom Amnesty). Vice President Dick Cheney urged Congress to grant it quickly. Senator Russ Feingold thinks that wouldn't be wise:
"The inclusion of any amnesty provision for telecom companies is a deal breaker for me.... Granting this kind of amnesty is totally unjustified since these companies already receive immunity if they follow the law. And it’s not as if these companies don’t have lawyers to tell them what’s legal and what’s not – especially when these laws have been on the books for 30 years.
"It is particularly outrageous that companies think they deserve immunity for allegedly participating in an illegal program when we found out last week from the DOJ Inspector General that telecom carriers are perfectly willing to shut off wiretaps – including a foreign intelligence wiretap – when the FBI doesn’t make its payments on time." (Feingold blog post)
In addition, how would we taxpayers ever learn what really happened if telecoms that broke the law were allowed to avoid court and keep evidence stashed in refrigerator-sized safes?
Bloggers Jane Hamsher and Glenn Greenwald asked concerned folks to ask presidential candidate John Edwards to make an issue of Telecom Amnesty on the campaign trail. Edwards responded:
"In Washington today, telecom lobbyists have launched a full-court press to win retroactive immunity for their illegal eavesdropping on American citizens. Granting retroactive immunity will let corporate law-breakers off the hook and hamstring efforts to learn the truth about Bush's illegal spying program.
"It's time for Senate Democrats to show a little backbone and stand up to George W. Bush and the corporate lobbyists. They should do everything in their power -- including joining Senator Dodd's efforts to filibuster this legislation -- to stop retroactive immunity. The Constitution should not be for sale at any price."
Jane's response:
"Well...yes. And that includes candidates, you know, leaving the campaign trail to do their jobs. Which Obama and Clinton can -- and should -- do. South Carolina is an hour and a half plane ride away." (via Memeorandum)
I suppose there would be much less political heat for the candidates who bow out of this fight, but now would be a good time to show voters what they are really made of.
Telecom Amnesty and increased domestic-surveillance powers are about more than whether Democrats can trust the Bush Administration with such powers -- though its track record for trustworthiness does leave room for doubt.
Loyal Republicans should also be skeptical: how would you feel if a Democrat takes the White House next year and inherits those powers?
Related BN-Politics Posts:
* Domestic Spying Started Before 9/11 & Money Changed Hands
* U.S. Intel Chief Made False Statements re: Domestic Spying
* FBI Made Hundreds of Data-Mining Errors
* What Would Nixon Have Done with this Technology?
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