Viewers of MSNBC's Countdown may have been treated to the House Republicans' idea of a policy debate, in the form of the video below, but they aren't the only people to whom the "24" homage is being disseminated. Of course, there are the visitors to the House Republican Conference's Youtube channel (No "Avril LaVigne" lip-sync videos, I checked). So far, so good.
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Ahhh, but then, there's the hi-res version that's embedded at the GOP caucus' website. That could be a problem. See, that site is GOP.gov, an official government website. I'm no legal eagle, so I can't give you every statute that this runs afoul of, but it is at least in violation of Federal .gov Program Guidelines, and Federal prohibitions on propaganda in appropriations, and it's just plain wrong.
Whether a Republican or a Democrat, I can't see any American sitting still while they have to pay for an official government website to run a propaganda film. I wouldn't expect Republican taxpayers to fund bandwidth to run clips from Syriana on the House Democrats' official government website.
First of all, the premise is completely false, since the GOP and the President are the ones who blocked extension of the Protect America Act. Second of all, the original FISA law is now in effect, which allows intelligence agencies to begin surveillance without a warrant for up to 72 hours. I guess these guys just scare easily.
Salon's Glenn Greenwald makes a nice plagiarism case vis a vis the "24 Season 7" trailer.
This is not a partisan issue. The overwhelming majority of Americans favor requiring warrants and oppose immunity for telecomm companies.
What can you do? Well, you can contact your House Member, and let them know what you think of this use of your money. You can email the GSA and let them know how you feel. Or, you can call the House Republican Conference Chair, Adam Putnam, at (202) 225-1252.