Stop the Specter bill. No coronation of King George!

[marmar]

Stop the Specter bill and save the Fourth Amendment!
Submitted by davidswanson on Wed, 2006-07-19 20:02. Activism | Spying
By The Bill of Rights Defense Committee

The President’s warrantless wiretapping program violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition against wiretapping Americans without a warrant, which must be obtained by showing a judge there is a valid reason for the search. Yet, instead of holding the president accountable, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has teamed up with the White House to draft S. 2453 (nicknamed the “Cheney-Specter bill”), which would legalize the illegal wiretapping program and any other current and future secret programs the administration wants to use to spy on Americans—without ever having to secure a single warrant.

If Specter’s Senate Judiciary Committee approves S. 2453 (as soon as this Thursday, July 20), it will head to the Senate for a floor vote. The bill would make the Fourth Amendment almost completely disappear. We must act now!

Please phone both your Senators today and ask them to oppose this bill. Look up their telephone numbers at www.senate.gov. You may also click here to send them a fax. Please forward this alert widely.

What’s so bad about S. 2453? Plenty!

It’s a win-win for Bush, a lose-lose for the people. Right now you can sue the administration for violating your Fourth Amendment rights. But if this lopsided bill passes, all cases involving warrantless surveillance would go to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, which is off-limits to your lawyer: Only the Administration’s lawyers are allowed to present arguments before this court. The entire proceedings can be kept secret, including the court’s decisions. Your case can be dismissed for “any reason” with no chance of appeal. But if the Administration’s side loses, it has the right to appeal.

And the secrecy doesn’t end there.

S 2453 goes even further than the USA PATRIOT Act:

More at: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/13116

[Redstone]

1. OK, I'm on it. I'm kind of a fan of the Fourth Amendment.

Thanks for posting this.

Redstone

[hopein08]

2. I would call but I doubt it would do any good..

You see I have the *cough* "good" fortune to be represented by Mr. Lapdog Specter and Mr. Man on Dog Santorum themselves. I written them before about things and when Man on Dog responds its sure to cost me money as he mails out yearly updates of why he's right and I'm not and Lapdog responds with a two paragraph email three months later.

I'm with you completely, but it won't do any good for me to do anything.

[globalvillage]

3. Same here.

Last time I wrote to Specter, I think I called him some pretty ugly names. Wonder if he'll remember me? I'll write him anyway, and try not to call him a traitor and a bush* appeaser this time.
I don't even bother with Santorum.

[Mnemosyne]

13. I bring his integrity and honor into question every time

I write. Fake outrage asshat.

Not so kind to scumtorum and my rep.- the Whorable Phil English.


I actually used to be very polite to them at one time, long, long ago.

[marmar]

5. Specter and Santorum?

My sympathies.

[hopein08]

6. Thanks n/t

[Mnemosyne]

12. Argh! Me three. They never answer any more and

scumtorum (spellcheck always wants to change that to the idiots legal name :evilgrin:) would always only explain why * was right.

I'm also stuck with Phil English:puke: as my rep., making me a three-time loser here.

[WhiteTara]

15. oh wtf pretend that it will work

remember the ole 12 step axiom...Fake it til you make it...keep on keeping on. Even if you have no hope, do it any way.

[Czolgosz]

4. K & R

[Norquist Nemesis]

7. It's hard to believe how short-sighted these people are

Utterly mind-boggling. I just can't for one minute imagine Specter, Hatch, Brownback, Cornyn, DeWine, and Sessions standing up to hand over power like this when a Democrat is holding the keys to the Oval Office. Which begs the question: Will they flip-flop when a Democrat is in the Oval Office?

[Mnemosyne]

14. Do you believe they will allow a Dem into the WH anytime soon? n/t

[chill_wind]

8. The coronation metaphor is way too benign.

This is more the stuff I would expect to read of coming out of Stalingrad.

[welshTerrier2]

9. Democrats ask Special Court to Rule on Specter's Sanity

http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=213

In an attempt to consolidate all the legal challenges into one, and determine once and for all if Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter has lost his marbles, Democrats are asking the special FISA Court to rule on Senator Specter’s sanity.

According to the proposal, the FISA Court — an acronym for “Fitness and Intelligence to Supervise the Administration” — would attempt to find out how a “moderate” Republican, who earned Phi Beta Kappa and a law degree from Yale University, could treat the Constitution like a roll of toilet paper in the men’s room of the Hart Senate Office Building.

Some have speculated that Specter has had a late-life conversion to the “single branch of government theory,” modeled after the “single bullet” theory that he authored while counsel to the Warren Commission. <skip>

[marmar]

10. LOL....

:crazy:

[chill_wind]

11. Democrats will join the betrayal.

Not all. Just enough to outrage and nauseate.

Maybe they'll all have another VOICE vote.

I would love to be wrong. In the meantime, I see no campaign from them to the contrary, They seem nowhere to be found.