Liar!

He's a liar - our President, that is. And not just about all the Iraq stuff (WMDs, terrorist sponsor, yada, yada, yada) but now about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, aka. FISA. We're being told by Duhbya and his minions that if the House of Representatives doesn't pass a version of a bill modifying FISA to match the one already passed by the lap-dog Senate (McCain voted for it, Clinton and Obama didn't vote at all), that the United States will go down in the flames of terrorism (or words to that effect). The modification that the President wants? An exemption from civil and criminal liabilities for the telecomm companies that aided his administration in their illegal (warrantless) wiretapping activities in the past. And in the future. The legal wiretaps - those for which a warrant is obtained from the secret FISA court - are already immune. And if the bill isn't passed and the current interim version of it expires? Well, current wiretaps (assumed to be all legal now) will continue without interruption so there's no increased threat there. Most importantly, the original FISA law will still be in effect, which means that the government will have to get a warrant to wiretap. Oh, and the warrant is obtained in secret and can be obtained AFTER the wiretap is already in place. And the FISA court has NOTHING on its docket and is free to immediately respond to warrant requests, so there's no increased threat there. So, why the rush to get that bill offering immunity passed? Because when the current interim law expires, the big telecomms will have their rich asses hanging out exposed to civil suits, and it's very unlikely that a Presidential pardon can protect them from civil damages for their illegal activities. So, will we as a country be threatened by terror strikes that would "make 9/11 pale by comparison" (actual quote)? Not unless a potentially major hit to AT&T's bottom line counts as a terror strike.

(If you're interested, there's more info here.)