Sen. Roberts: We don’t need no stinkin’ checks and balances

I rarely discuss politics on this blog, but I saw this on CNN and was utterly outraged.

CNN:

…[T]he Republican chairman [Sen. Pat Roberts] of the Senate Intelligence Committee said he had worked out an agreement with the White House to consider legislation and provide more information to Congress on the eavesdropping program.

“I believe that such an investigation at this point … would be detrimental to this highly classified program and efforts to reach some accommodation with the administration,” Roberts said.

Unbelievable, unacceptable…and par for the course these days. Congressional checks on executive power, anyone? The Framers are turning 10,000 rpm in their graves right now. This is maddening.

Want accommodation? It’s there – it’s called FISA! Or are they going to make a few tweaks and remove the FISA roadblock and permit unlimited wiretapping? That’s sure the vibe I get from all this.

Compromising our liberties is a victory for the terrorists. Make sure you write your Congressional representatives and let them know that. These are the fundamentals of our democracy at risk here.

  • http://www.lifelessempathy.net/ NotMyBest2Day

    I think it’s the whole “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” thing. We can’t beat communist/dictatorship countries, so we’re becoming one. Next thing you know, we’ll still be fighting the rest of the world because they aren’t being the same kind of communist country we are. This s’ is f’n rediculous.

    I think we need to have a recall and have the entire administration removed from office and put some better people in there. What we have now isn’t what we signed up for back in the previous elections.

  • http://www.lifelessempathy.net/ NotMyBest2Day

    I think it’s the whole “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” thing. We can’t beat communist/dictatorship countries, so we’re becoming one. Next thing you know, we’ll still be fighting the rest of the world because they aren’t being the same kind of communist country we are. This s’ is f’n rediculous.

    I think we need to have a recall and have the entire administration removed from office and put some better people in there. What we have now isn’t what we signed up for back in the previous elections.

  • http://adlibitum.blogsome.com alseptd

    I’m afraid I have to disagree with both of you. The first instance of wiretapping was initiated by Abraham Lincoln as a way of finding out Confederate troop movements. During WWII, FDR allowed far more sweeping and unrelenting wiretappings to find Soviet and Japanese spies in this country. And even Bill Clinton ordered wiretappings and found a prosecuted a Russian spy. All of the above actions, mind, were done without warrants of any kind.

    The FISA court exists, correct. The problem with FISA is that even with it’s 2 day turn-around (utterly amazing as our court system is concerned) is that it is just too damned slow. If ICE or FBI or Homeland Security has reason to believe that communications between terrorists and people inside the country are occuring, the 2 day turn-around is just too slow to catch up.

    The wiretappings that we are currently discussing are also on communiques between the US and foreign sources. Wiretapping US to US communications can only be done with the permission of the FISA court, but the wiretapping of communications with one end outside the country is currently legal (the NSA has a team of lawyers checking, double checking, and triple checking things like this, just to cover their own asses).

    Also, I submit for your consideration that someone leaked this story. This (and many other things, I’m sure) was something that was very, very classified. “Classified” means that we’re not supposed to know about it, let alone discuss it. If there were any questions as to the legality of this practice, we should have been informed about it only AFTER it was deemed illegal. Now we only have one less tool to fight terrorism.

  • http://adlibitum.blogsome.com alseptd

    I’m afraid I have to disagree with both of you. The first instance of wiretapping was initiated by Abraham Lincoln as a way of finding out Confederate troop movements. During WWII, FDR allowed far more sweeping and unrelenting wiretappings to find Soviet and Japanese spies in this country. And even Bill Clinton ordered wiretappings and found a prosecuted a Russian spy. All of the above actions, mind, were done without warrants of any kind.

    The FISA court exists, correct. The problem with FISA is that even with it’s 2 day turn-around (utterly amazing as our court system is concerned) is that it is just too damned slow. If ICE or FBI or Homeland Security has reason to believe that communications between terrorists and people inside the country are occuring, the 2 day turn-around is just too slow to catch up.

    The wiretappings that we are currently discussing are also on communiques between the US and foreign sources. Wiretapping US to US communications can only be done with the permission of the FISA court, but the wiretapping of communications with one end outside the country is currently legal (the NSA has a team of lawyers checking, double checking, and triple checking things like this, just to cover their own asses).

    Also, I submit for your consideration that someone leaked this story. This (and many other things, I’m sure) was something that was very, very classified. “Classified” means that we’re not supposed to know about it, let alone discuss it. If there were any questions as to the legality of this practice, we should have been informed about it only AFTER it was deemed illegal. Now we only have one less tool to fight terrorism.

  • http://adlibitum.blogsome.com alseptd

    in my first paragraph there’s a typo….it should say “found and prosecuted”

  • http://adlibitum.blogsome.com alseptd

    in my first paragraph there’s a typo….it should say “found and prosecuted”

  • http://www.lifelessempathy.net/ NotMyBest2Day

    Man, you should’ve heard Bill Maher talk about this and other topics on HBO Friday night. I’m still laughing. :D

  • http://www.lifelessempathy.net/ NotMyBest2Day

    Man, you should’ve heard Bill Maher talk about this and other topics on HBO Friday night. I’m still laughing. :D

  • http://adlibitum.blogsome.com alseptd

    Bill Maher is hit or miss, but sometimes he’s hysterical. We don’t have HBO here on the campus of USC.

  • http://adlibitum.blogsome.com alseptd

    Bill Maher is hit or miss, but sometimes he’s hysterical. We don’t have HBO here on the campus of USC.