I invite critical feedback on this letter to the editor (242 words) in regard to the illegal NSA wiretaps. My intent is to help drive down support for the program shown in polls in an effort to shift the terms of debate from one that is favorable to the far right to one that is favorable to the opposition. After the polls reflect shifting public opinion, this can better be used by Democrats to gain control of Congress and beat back the Bush crime wave. To that end, I seek to craft a message that will help readers percieve the illegal wiretapping not as a critical tool for the Warren Terra, but as a threat to their liberty. Text below the fold (disclosure: I sent a version of this letter to the Houston Chronicle March 9 but have not received a confirmation call, and--darn it--I couldn't get that cool blue box up):
To the editor:
How many Americans are being wiretapped by the National Security Agency under orders from President Bush? What is the extent of "data-mining" operations carried out by the NSA: tapping into trunk lines of major telecommunications providers such as AT&T and Verizon? Why did the president order the NSA to conduct this surveillance illegally, rather than conforming with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which set up a secret court to allow the government to spy on its citizens (and even allows the government to get warrants three days after they begin wiretapping)? These are the questions Attorney General Alberto Gonzales refused to answer when asked by Senate Judiciary Committee. Now committee chairman Arlen Specter has announced that there will be no investigation; we will not get answers to these questions. FISA was enacted after President Nixon was caught using the FBI and CIA to spy on his political opponents, and we have every reason to suspect President Bush of doing the same thing, but on a much greater scale and with much more dangerous technology. Newspapers have widely reported FBI surveillance of Quakers, Catholic Worker Relief, and other groups to whom the president is opposed. George W. Bush has repeatedly lied to us about what he is doing and why. It is time we learned the truth: Mr. President, who are you spying on?