Sometimes You Can't Be Paranoid ENOUGH

Sometimes You Can't Be Paranoid ENOUGH

Hmm.... I received the following email this afternoon:

Hello Kevin,

Flaming liberal here, and I enjoy reading your blog very much; you're an great writer with an interesting viewpoint. I particularly liked your Quote of the Day post involving Jeff Foxworthy--between you and me, what liberals don't know about the Flyover States would fill Alaska. I am sickened at the way my own party conducts their politics...but that is a discussion for another time. Coming to more current events, I would very much like your take on this post (ignore all the self-promotion):
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/~

What is FISA? Can you discuss it a little on your blog? (Before tomorrow?) :)

I went to the site and watched the 18-minute video. It's an interview with Daniel Ellsberg on the topic of the FISA reauthorization bill going before the Senate apparently tomorrow.

He's agin' it.

Mostly he's agin' it because it gives immunity from lawsuits to the telecommunications companies who have violated the law by acquiescing to the government's requests demands for wiretaps and other surveillance of American citizens without recourse to a judicially-issued warrant.

Essentially, Mr. Ellsburg's position is that through this bill the .gov can legally spy on anyone, at any time, and then use the information gathered to blackmail the subject of the surveillance - say, a Senator or Congressman.

Um, right.

Here's my problem with that little scenario. If you're going to blackmail someone (which is a crime) then committing a crime in order to get the dirt on them in the first place isn't going to slow you down much.

Mr. Ellsburg places great faith in the power of the voters to stop this bill. He can't understand why Barack Candle in the Wind Obama has reversed himself on his opposition to it. (Along with pretty much every other position he took in the primary race.)

Gee, I wonder if someone might be blackmailing him?

Look, I concur with Mr. Ellsburg that government has done a lot of unConstitutitional things, dating all the way back to Lincoln and beyond, but FISA doesn't strike terror in my heart the way it apparently does Mr. Ellsburg. Perhaps that's due to a lack of understanding on my part, but having read Mr. Ellsburg's 09/26/07 opus "A Coup Has Occurred," I tend to suspect that the tether connecting him to reality is just a bit frayed. I could be wrong. But if the current administration is so intent on violating our civil rights, on unzipping and letting fly on the Constitution, then why bother with PASSING the FISA bill? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Look, either we're over the edge or we're not. Stopping the FISA bill isn't going to make a gnat-fart of a difference either way.

You may, instead, want to take the advice in the third comment to this post at Western Rifle Shooters Association.