I'm Kinda Ticked off and Ranting Here. Move Along.
Some sectors of Blogtopia are not accessible this morning. Perhaps they are undergoing illegal wiretapping today. That, by the way, is just dandy with the Republican leadership.
Now, I'm no lawyer but I do find myself puzzled by one thing: according to the NY Times article linked above, the Senate Judiciary Committee is dandy with the government spying, without warrants, on the international phone calls and emails of US citizens. BUT they are having trouble coming to agreement on the rights of suspected terror detainees. Some of them want to make sure, for example, that these individuals know with what crime they are charged & be allowed to see the evidence against them.
I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with playing by the rules, adhering to the Geneva Conventions and generally doing the right thing relative to anyone in US custody, even if that person is suspected of plotting terrorist acts against the United States of America. Because that's who we are supposed to be. We are supposed to be the home of the free and the land of the brave and all that crap-o-roni and it bothers me very much, as a tax-paying, voting-in-every-election, apple-pie-and-baseball lovin' American the ways in which we have sullied that vision, especially over the last 5 years. So yeah, absolutely, play by the rules with the detainees.
I just don't get why they want to assure what amounts to Constitutional protections for people who are not in every case (in few cases as I understand it) American citizens but those of us who are citizens and communicate with people outside our borders are liable to be spied upon without our knowledge?
And for those of you who don't think this matters because you know you are not a terrorist and therefore, since you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to fear, I have only this to say: Boy, are you deluded.
I have as little to hide as you do. Maybe less. I just think it is wrong, wrong, wrong to spy on American citizens without their knowledge or consent and I think this Administration and it's lackeys in the Senate are traitors to the Consititution they swore to uphold and, assuming they don't bugger with the voting machines in key districts, I look forward to sweeping the lot of cowards, traitors, posers and self-righteous hypocrites out of office in November.
Oh, gee, did I say that outloud?
Now, I'm no lawyer but I do find myself puzzled by one thing: according to the NY Times article linked above, the Senate Judiciary Committee is dandy with the government spying, without warrants, on the international phone calls and emails of US citizens. BUT they are having trouble coming to agreement on the rights of suspected terror detainees. Some of them want to make sure, for example, that these individuals know with what crime they are charged & be allowed to see the evidence against them.
I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with playing by the rules, adhering to the Geneva Conventions and generally doing the right thing relative to anyone in US custody, even if that person is suspected of plotting terrorist acts against the United States of America. Because that's who we are supposed to be. We are supposed to be the home of the free and the land of the brave and all that crap-o-roni and it bothers me very much, as a tax-paying, voting-in-every-election, apple-pie-and-baseball lovin' American the ways in which we have sullied that vision, especially over the last 5 years. So yeah, absolutely, play by the rules with the detainees.
I just don't get why they want to assure what amounts to Constitutional protections for people who are not in every case (in few cases as I understand it) American citizens but those of us who are citizens and communicate with people outside our borders are liable to be spied upon without our knowledge?
And for those of you who don't think this matters because you know you are not a terrorist and therefore, since you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to fear, I have only this to say: Boy, are you deluded.
I have as little to hide as you do. Maybe less. I just think it is wrong, wrong, wrong to spy on American citizens without their knowledge or consent and I think this Administration and it's lackeys in the Senate are traitors to the Consititution they swore to uphold and, assuming they don't bugger with the voting machines in key districts, I look forward to sweeping the lot of cowards, traitors, posers and self-righteous hypocrites out of office in November.
Oh, gee, did I say that outloud?
Labels: Blogtopia
cobbled together by Moi at 9:00 AM
10 Comments:
You go Girl. And your dog just messed again in the back yard
Right on. Blogger bites today. I can't get to my blog. couldn't yesterday either. You think one of the neighbors will water it for me?
NSA, Thanks for the heads up. I'll get out there and clean it up in a sec. And yes, by golly, I DO feel safer!
Nicole, You realize we have to start making our emails way more salacious now. No more of this benign, "how you doin', try this recipe" crap. I want my tax dollars to count for something, hear? And I'll go water your blog...I was just there this morning.
I guess that means that all our communiques with charlie, and his with us, are being read. Oh my. It's all so crazy.
I agree with your sentiments 100%.
A couple of thoughts on your queries:
1. There's a positional disparity (acquiescence on the NSA spying vs. opposition to the "reinterpreting" of the Geneva Conventions) because the first issue was before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the second is before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Different players, different spines.
2. For what it's worth, it's my understanding that Harry Reid is committed to stopping the legislation that would rubber-stamp the NSA's program. He's making a fillibuster threat, and he's serious about it. So that's nice.
3. A minor point of clarification. You'll no doubt be unsurprised to learn that I favor the Warner/McCain/Graham bill over the Administration's medieval proposal. But even their bill falls well short of providing the full panoply of Constitutional protections we Amurrcans enjoy in the U.S. Most significantly, it deprives them of their habeas corpus rights and has no provision for appeal to an independent higher court. There's a lot else I don't like about the Warner/McCain/Graham bill, but it is clearly the lesser of two evils.
Gina, You KNOW our communiques with Charlie are under investigation. HMOG, between the goose obsession and the Highland sheep thing...don't kid yourself, they are watching him and they are therefore watching us.
LA, Thank you for the clarification. In fact, when I said "I'm no lawyer" that was pretty much code for "LA, please to be clarifying the points of law". So thanks for rising to the bait.
Lorraine! Taking it to the man!
Yeee-uh!
nice rant there kid!
You can bet they're watching alright..Sad,sad little lives those government voyeurs have.
ROFL! I can almost see the quizzical looks on the face of the snoops after reading a few of our exchanges with charlie on geese and sheep.... Gee, did I just hear a funny click on the line? LOL
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