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Salon columnist and constitutional scholar Glenn Greenwald -- who is generally supportive of progressive interpretations of the law -- says the Obama Administration has "invented a brand new claim" of immunity from spying litigation. "In other words, beyond even the outrageously broad 'state secrets' privilege invented by the Bush administration and now embraced fully by the Obama administration, the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and -- even if what they're doing is blatantly illegal and they know it's illegal -- you are barred from suing them unless they 'willfully disclose' to the public what they have learned," Greenwald wrote Monday.
Then-Senatorial candidate Obama in 2003 branded the Patriot Act "shoddy and dangerous" and pledged to dump it. He made the pledge in response to a candidate's survey by the National Organization for Women. Obama reneged on the pledge.
As a candidate for president, then-Sen. Barack Obama railed against parts of USA Patriot Act that gave the Bush administration sweeping powers to intercept phone and e-mail communications in the name of fighting terrorism with little judicial or congressional oversight, and Obama pledged to institute "robust" checks and balances if elected.
And yet now that a Democrat is in the White House Harry Reid is defending the very legislation that he opposed in 2005 when a Republican was in the White House, and he has the balls to declare that Rand Paul is grandstanding for political reasons? What this should prove to the American people is that it was Democrats such as Harry Reid and Barack Obama who were simply opposing the PATRIOT Act in 2005 for political reasons. The fact that Harry Reid and Barack Obama are now asking for the continuation of a policy they so vehemently opposed a few short years ago should show the American people that it was the Democrats who opposed the PATRIOT Act back in the day who were the ones who were “grandstanding” a few short years ago.
Originally posted by Carseller4
This issue is not about left/right. This is about right/wrong.
The left was wrong about Club Gitmo, wrong about enhanced interrogations, wrong about the Patriot Act, wrong about Afghanistan and Iraq, wrong about pretty much anything having to do with National Security. It wasn't until they actually took power that they realized this.
"I have doubts about the bill. This is not the bill I wanted to support," Kucinich said even as he promised that he would vote "yes" on the proposal.
reply to post by beezzer
Just don't fall for the "they are all the same" meme. Good people still exist.
"No. 1—according to the resolution—was “smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes.” Let’s take those from the top. Smaller government: Federal employment grew by 61,000 during Reagan’s presidency—in part because Reagan created a whole new cabinet department, the department of veterans affairs. (Under Bill Clinton, by contrast, federal employment dropped by 373,000). Smaller deficits and debt: Both nearly tripled on Reagan’s watch. Lower taxes: Although Reagan muscled through a major tax cut in 1981, he followed up by raising taxes in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986. In 1983, in fact, he not only raised payroll taxes; he raised them to pay for Social Security and Medicare. Let’s put this in language today’s tea-baggers can understand: Reagan raised taxes to pay for government-run health care." www.sodahead.com...
Originally posted by joechip
reply to post by beezzer
Just don't fall for the "they are all the same" meme. Good people still exist.
Okay, you named two members of congress (and a governor which is non-topical since we're discussing the federal government) out of 535.
Father and son.
Hardly a ringing endorsement of the status quo. Hardly defensible and certainly not a refutation of my main point. FAIL. Thanks for playing.
You folks gripe and whine and complain about the corpoate powers and one sided elites, yet you do NOTHING! Just gripe on line and don't DARE to try to find solutions.