The politics of warrantless wiretaps
Not too terribly long ago, we had a major todo over warrantless wiretaps. First there was a lot of rhetoric circling around this “abuse of the Constitution”. In March, 2006, Russ Feingold decided to make it political. He offered a bill to the Senate to censure the President over the use of warrantless wiretaps. Only two people would sign on to it, Tom Harkin and Barbara Boxer. It got tossed around rhetorically and went no where. Then, in August, 2006, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled the program illegal and ordered it stopped immediately. Needless to say, it didn’t. I wasn’t too pleased with her decision as it seemed to be based in a very distorted view of the US Constitution. And, I knew her decision would be tossed around like a hot potato. It was. The November elections came and the Democrats used the warrantless wiretaps as a shining example of the Republican contempt for human rights and some people claim it got them control of Congress. Specifically, the argument was whether or not President Bush had the authority to order the wiretaps in the first place. I never understood that argument. Apparently the courts didn’t either. It was eventually ruled perfectly legal and continued even while Russ Feingold and the DNC were telling everyone it was completely unconstitutional. So, the Dems took over Congress in January 2007 with promises to end all these abuses of the Constitution. The people believed them. So, what did they do with the warrantless wiretaps? After promising a censure or impeachment over the issue, they did this:
The vote was approved 60-28. Both parties had agreed to require 60 votes for passage.
I love how MSNBC is pandering to the Democrats by calling it “reluctant”. You’re either fer it or agin it. “Reluctant” doesn’t mean squat. They gave us four years of saying it was illegal as hell, then passed it. Anyone ready to call their hands on it?
I’ve always believed that terrorists are not going to go out of the way to properly notify authorities before targeting innocent women, children, and men. So, we’ve got to go get that info. If they wanna wiretap me, go right ahead. I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear.
( I’d love to tear into the actual votes, but that information was not available at this time. )
