The NYTimes has a scathing editorial on the new eavesdropping law that was passed yesterday. The NYTimes says that the law was originally supposed to fix a problem in the 1978 version (eavesdropping was only allowed without a warrant when one of the parties was outside the US, but a judge ruled that if the telecommunications even merely travel electronically into the states, you need a warrant) but Congress was "railroaded" into passing sweeping wiretapping reform:
"They gave the director of national intelligence and the attorney general authority to intercept — without warrant, court supervision or accountability — any telephone call or e-mail message that moves in, out of or through the United States as long as there is a 'reasonable belief' that one party is not in the United States."
They blame the aggressive executive for pushing bad policy and the chicken-hearted Democratic legislature for "caving" and passing the bill:
It was appalling to watch over the last few days as Congress — now led by Democrats — caved in to yet another unnecessary and dangerous expansion of President Bush’s powers, this time to spy on Americans in violation of basic constitutional rights. Many of the 16 Democrats in the Senate and 41 in the House who voted for the bill said that they had acted in the name of national security, but the only security at play was their job security.
Ooooh.
1 comment:
The pen is mightier than the sword. Or maybe it's the penis...
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