The House has passed a new surveillance bill that would establish rules for government eavesdropping on phone calls - and peeping at emails - within the United States. The bill replaces a temporary law that expired back on February 16th with lawmakers unable to come up with a full-time replacement in time.
The kicker of it all? With a veto promise from our President, the lawmakers voted then headed off for a two-week break - with Republican Whip Rep. Roy Blunt (MO) saying the vote "has no impact at all" due to the veto waiting in the wings.
Wait one.
Did you gals catch that? Our elected officials basically said "we know he's going to veto this so let's just get it over with and get spring break started, shall we?"
DID I MISS SOMETHING HERE? Obviously I'm no political pundit, but I really don't see the point in just throwing something together and passing it on for somebody else to strike down. Last I checked that was called creating crappy work and passing the buck. Why bother?
Guess that's why I'm not a legislator. Counting my blessings THERE.
The requirement of a warrant before violation of privacy is ancient. This is basic common law liberty stuff. The problem isn't congress. Bush just doesn't get it. The government needs to get a warrant before it wiretaps. What's next? Shall we just knock down doors and arrest people in their homes without warrants? Osama will never have the people nor the guns to beat us. But he has Americans so fearful that they are giving up their own liberties faster than one might have believed. "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - some crazy revolutionary named Ben Franklin.....
Posted by: Anonymous | March 14, 2008 3:44 PM | Permalink to Comment