My questions regarding FISA and Telecom immunity...

[opusprime]

I have been writing my Senators and Congressman from the State of Washington over the last 2 days to thank them for finally standing up to the Bush administration over the illegal warrantless wiretapping program.

I decided to turn the questions around on them a little bit, and see if they are willing to get aggressive in finding out what has been going on with our 1st and 4th Amendment rights.

Here are the questions I asked, feel free to use/alter/forward in any way you wish, just demand answers.

I am a Verizon customer, and Verizon has been identified as one of the companies thought to have taken part in illegally providing access to citizen's private phone conversations and email.

Have my 4th Amendment rights been violated by the Bush administration and Verizon through the use of illegal electronic surveillance?

Have any of my 4th Amendment protected conversations or emails been given over to the federal government in any form, without a warrant or probable cause?

Have any of your (Congressman Adam Smith) private conversations or emails been handed over to the federal government in any form without a warrant or probable cause?

Has the Bush administration or any member of the federal government used the illegal wireless wiretapping program to review the conversations of any private citizen, without a warrant of probable cause, for purposes other than protection against terrorism such as political enemies or other causes favored by the administration?

I want answers.

[annabanana]

1. Good questions. . . . .n/t

[rwenos]

2. You're Asking the Wrong Questions

Not because your questions aren't valid -- they are. But from what I've read, the Bush Administration is asking Congress to approve this immunity WITHOUT TELLING THEM WHAT HAS ACTUALLY BEEN DONE. It's just "trust us."

Thus, your Congresscritters aren't going to know the answers to your (excellent) questions. Nobody will tell them.

No shortage of chutzpah, the bushie's, eh?

[L. Coyote]

3. Ask your Congressperson this question:

My Gramma sent our family apple pie recipe on July 2002.
She has since died. We lost the e-mail.

"Can you please ask the DNI to forward a copy?"

I hear they have everything cached. That's sure handy!

I'd want to see their answer to that one! :rofl:

[opusprime]

4. I understand...

but I havent heard anyone even ask these questions.

And I think once a Democratic leader begins framing the debate in this manner, and throws the burden back to the Bush administration, it changes the context of the debate.

Think about it.

Bush comes out and says "The Democratic Congress has made the country less safe by allowing this law to expire"

Democrats say "Mr President, who exactly have you been spying on?" "Have you spied on your political enemies?" "Have you spied on innocent Americans?" "What is being done with the information retained by the NSA?"

I think we back them into a corner once we demand these answers, for the exact reason you state. They'll never answer them. Which means they have something to hide.

[rwenos]

5. You're Right

No one in Congress has asked your questions -- and they're fine questions. They deserve to be put front and center. The Congress should put some of the Bush brownshirts under oath and ask them all the questions you have raised. It would certainly have the effect of dramatizing the issue.

My point was that the Administration has kept Congress in the dark, and asked them to vote on this law without giving them the highly-relevant information regarding what in fact has already been done.

I heard someone say yesterday that this whole "Dem's have made the country less safe" mantra is bullshit, since all surveillance is done on presidential "findings" -- WHICH ARE GOOD FOR A YEAR after they are issued.

Thus, the same surveillance that took place last week, is still taking place right now. There's been no change. There is no emergency. George Walker Bush is lying to us. Again.