We're all abuzz with the news that Steny Hoyer (D-AT&T) has rammed through a capitulation on FISA reform against his own will, and with no support from democrats.
Key to the success of this clearly corrupt, fraudulent piece of "legislation" is the makeup job/title change designed to make us (FAIL) and our representatives (uh-oh) in congress think that there is some sort of check on unbridled surveillance powers tucked into the bill.
There isn't.
It's worse than the original.
Action item (an easy one) below the fold
From Glenn Greenwald:
So all the Attorney General has to do is recite those magic words -- the President requested this eavesdropping and did it in order to save us from the Terrorists -- and (snip) the courts are required to dismiss the lawsuits against the telecoms, no matter how illegal their behavior was.
That's the "compromise" Steny Hoyer negotiated and which he is now -- according to very credible reports -- pressuring every member of the Democratic caucus to support. It's full-scale, unconditional amnesty with no inquiry into whether anyone broke the law. In the U.S. now, thanks to the Democratic Congress, we'll have a new law based on the premise that the President has the power to order private actors to break the law, and when he issues such an order, the private actors will be protected from liability of any kind on the ground that the Leader told them to do it -- the very theory that the Nuremberg Trial rejected.
Anybody wanna cite Godwin's Law, or are we finally, at long last, past that point?
Fair use prevents me from quoting enough for full context, but here's the relevant text from the "Protection of Persons Assisting the Government Act" (oy, oy, oy)
[A] civil action may not lie or be maintained in a Federal or State court against any person for providing assistance to an element of the intelligence community, and shall be properly dismissed, if the Attorney General (yup, that would be Mukasey - paragon of nonpartisan law enforcement-kamarvt) certifies to the district court of the United States in which such action is pending that . . . (4) the assistance alleged to have been provided . . . was --
(A) in connection with intelligence activity involving communications that was (i) authorized by the President (...) and (ii) designed to prevent or detect a terrorist attack, or activities in preparation of a terrorist attack, against the United States" and
(B) the subject of a written request or directive . . . indicating that the activity was (i) authorized by the President; and (ii) determined to be lawful. [by whom, exactly? John Yoo? -k]
See? the Preznit said so, and Abu Gonzalez' temp replacement gave me a note, so there. Case closed. Can I go back to shredding documents now?
Interesting that Hoyer, who just Wednesday was moaning about how he really, really didn't want to do this, but was being forced by all those hawkish, authoritarian dems (a pony for the first person tofind a democrat on this list) is "pressuring every member of the Democratic caucus to support it". He even said he's personally against it and will vote that way (only if he's sure he's got enough votes for it to pass over his "objections").
He's lying.
Which means he's lying to the caucus, too. Based on the spin cycle coming out of the AT&T lobby (aka Sen Rockefeller), this bill "balances civil rights with the needed tools to fight terror".
That is a lie.
The change in the newer bill does neither.
But it is not a lie meant for our consumption. The lie is meant for the democrats in congress.
Remember that horrid scene from Fahrenheit 911 where John Conyers says "Sit down, son... Most members of congress don't read the bill before us" as his explanation for the passage of the Patriot Act (forty million mistakes ago)?
Hoyer is counting on that level of ignorance to carry the day. He's a savvy politician, and right now that means keeping his caucus in the dark. He's also betraying the letter and meaning of the supreme law of the land in order to aid companies involved in criminal activity, and sealing the fate of any future investigation into this whole vast secret program. Documentation of this activity can and will be legally destroyed the instant this bill becomes law. As they say, "no body, no crime". Or "Facts on the ground". Or "We create a new reality".
Pablum about how this bill will sunset in 2012 is another, related lie meant to help dems get over any queasiness by hinting that it's all sooooo fixable.
It isn't.
If this bill passes, there will never be any accountability for the seven year old illegal goverment spy operation, its relation to the Total Information Awareness Program that congress defunded (and came back to life anyway), or its use in conjunction with selective political prosecutions coming out of the DoJ and harassment of religious and antiwar groups. No court case can even begin if the AG (now a completely politicized office, ironically due to lack of congressional oversight) puts in writing that the telco's were just following orders.
However, if this bill is exposed as the exact same bill that the House already rejected, it can be brought down. No member has to stand up more than they already have. Voting against it will show consistency from those who got it right the first time, while caving will get them labelled flip-floppers. Those who chose to codify secret police powers into the private sector, well, I don't know what to do about them.
Which gets me to the action item:
Call your congresscritter and tell them this bill is a Trojan Horse. Tell them that their majority leader is playing them for fools. Tell them he's blaming them for his haplessness with big, bad lobbyists.
If your critter is a democrat, that might make them sit up. If it's a republican, call anyway and let them know there is a cost to this.
mcjoan' s FP article from yesterday has a list of Blue Dogs who voted correctly last time, they are especially susceptible to the lie that there's "compromise" in the new bill (there isn't, but they won't hear that from the leadership).
The House Democratic Majority Leader has embarked on a campaign at the behest of major contributors to deceive and disinform the entire democratic caucus and the public about a crucially important piece of legislation, specifically to fool them into voting for something they have already voted down. Recent history shows it is folly to underestimate the ignorance of many members of congress, and they are ripe for this type of disinformation.
We can arm our reps with truth and knowledge enough for them to see this lie for what it is. While we're at it, maybe we can point out that the actions of the majority leader are extremely dishonest.
Please take a little bit of blogging time and act.
Please.