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http://www.cnn.com/2...ping/index.html
"American Bar Association Opposes Warrantless Wiretapping"
http://www.foxnews.c...,184717,00.html
and there are certain Senators from both sides of the aisle who are willing - without even knowing the details of the programs involved - to change FISA to retroactively make the NSA illegal wire-tapping legal.
Needless to say - and with good cause - several privacy-rights organizations are going nuts about all of this:
"This President's Day, the capital awoke to a rising uproar over illegal spying and a fractious Patriot Act debate still hanging over Congress.
On Monday, the ACLU convened a National Town Hall discussion on spying, secrecy and presidential power. A lively panel of distinguished experts and an online audience of thousands gathered to examine the illegality and unconstitutionality of the Bush administration's secret NSA spying program.
The panel was moderated by Dr. Marvin Kalb, with guests including former White House counsel John W. Dean and Harvard law professor Laurence H. Tribe. The event was held before a live audience at George Washington University and was broadcast live on C-SPAN and via web cast at ACLU.org.
You can watch a web replay of this important discussion and learn more about our expert panel. Go to:
http://www.aclu.org/presidentialpower
Although our panel, the media, and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle agree that the president has overstepped his authority, Congress is now on the brink of voting to reauthorize and expand the Patriot Act, which would make secret searches of Americans' financial and internet records more coercive and more punitive.
Please call your senators right now: the final Senate vote is scheduled for next Tuesday, February 28. Demand that your senators oppose Patriot Act reauthorization unless significant changes are made to protect American privacy.
For talking points and to take action, go to: http://action.aclu.org/call .
Last week, after months of debate, some key legislators cut a deal with the White House to reauthorize the Patriot Act without making the most important changes needed to protect our civil liberties.
The White House refused to negotiate in good faith on the most important civil liberties and privacy protections, namely requiring that any records sought be about a suspected foreign terrorist or an American conspiring with terrorists. The reauthorization bill fails to include these and other critical protections.
Senators Feingold, Bingaman and Leahy are attempting to add amendments that would help fix key problems with the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act must not be reauthorized unless these important changes are made to protect our freedoms.
Call your Senators right now and tell them to support the amendments offered by Senator Feingold and others to fix the Patriot Act.
Sincerely,
Caroline Fredrickson
Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office"
and this from C.D.T: http://www.cdt.org/action/nsa/
Folks, look - if you don't pick up a phone and tell your legislator's that you want a full inquiry by both the Judicial and Intelligence sub-committee's into NSA wiretapping - if you don't tell them at the same time that you want Senator Feingold's amendments to the 'patriot' act re-authorization accepted for consideration and voted on (and that you support passage of those amendments) - then you will need to forget about ever getting any of this stuff taken care of or corrected - because after the 28th, it's simply going to no longer matter what YOU think.
Go to one of those links - and then pick up the phone.
Remember - stress both issues - you want a FULL inquiry into the NSA wire-tapping and you want Feingold's amendments added to the 'patriot' act and you want them to vote in favor of those amendments.
Or live with the results of your lack of action. Pete
