The Fickle Fist of FISA

FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Bush proudly acknowledges he ignored (thus breaking the law), was just amended by Congress & signed off by the Prez. Why should you care about Foreign Intelligence? Because it just gave the government even more power to tap your phone calls & read your emails (and blogs). It also retroactively excludes Telecom companies from lawsuits based on warrantless spying. Why do you care, since you've done nothing wrong? Because it allows them to spy w/out a paper trail. No paper trail means that, if someone makes a mistake, and you are falsely accused of something, there's no paper trail that can track the events & help you prove your innocence. It also reduces your 4th Amendment Rights. In case you don't remember the 4th, here it is:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." (see the whole list at http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html).

The ACLU is going to fight this one in court. They also have a petition going that you can sign at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/115033355. How many more rights are we going to lose? Is anyone paying attention out there?