Opinion Editorials, September 2007
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Stop the Unconstitutional "Protect America" Act, ACTION ALERT
By Michael Boldin
ccun.org, September 23, 2007
The single largest anti-Constitutional contribution to the Bush Regime by the Protect America Act (PAA) is its effective cancellation of legislative and judicial oversight on warrantless wiretapping. It authorizes open-ended surveillance of Americans' overseas phone calls and e-mails without a warrant.
When this bill was signed into law on 08-05-07, legislative and judicial power in the executive branch instantly grew by several orders of magnitude. The Constitution's separation-of-powers principle had its arms ripped off. [1]
The law is set to expire after 6 months. But, unsurprisingly, Bush just announced that he wants those powers to be permanent.
Send a letter opposing this to your members of Congress now! It takes just a couple minutes with our online system.
http://www.populistamerica.com/kill_the_protect_america_act
On Wednesday, September 19th, Bush said:
"So I call on Congress to make the Protect America Act permanent. The need for action is clear. Director McConnell has warned that unless the FISA reforms in the Act are made permanent, our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country. Without these tools, it'll be harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to train, recruit and infiltrate operatives in our country. Without these tools our country will be much more vulnerable to attack."[2]
Once again, using fear, Bush and his cohorts are calling on you to willingly give up your liberty - permanently. By allowing spying without warrant, the PAA - along with FISA itself - directly contradicts the plain English of the 4th Amendment.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No Warrants Shall Issue. Period.
Tell your senators and representatives to do something unusual - tell them to stand up for your liberty and the US Constitution - by letting this awful legislation expire.
http://www.populistamerica.com/kill_the_protect_america_act
Former federal prosecutor Edward Lazarus says that warrantless wiretapping is a major threat to the Constitution's separation of powers. It is a sapping of legislative and judicial power into the executive.[1]
Lazarus writes -- "... the Constitution's separation of powers was the nation's primary defense against tyranny. And tyranny, [Yale law professor Stephen] Carter concluded in an oft quoted line, does not overwhelm a nation in an instant. No, he wrote, 'tyranny creeps".
Lazarus continues -- "Lately, though, tyranny runs like a cheetah."[1][3]
Click here to take action on this issue now.
Michael Boldin is a thirty-something technology-inclined city-dweller, who is an avid hiker of the San Gabriel Mountains, and is prone to life in the wilderness. Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by a politically active family, he developed a distaste for big government early on. Michael is a senior editor and contributing writer for http://www.populistamerica.com, and welcomes your feedback at mboldin@populistamerica.com
Sources:
[1] "Protect America Act: Cheetah for Tyranny" Stephen Neitzke,
PopulistAmerica.com, August 13, 2007
http://www.populistamerica.com/protect_america_act_cheetah_for_tyranny
[2] "Wihte Press Release" September
19, 2007
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070919.html
[3] "Warrantless Wiretapping: Why it
Seriously Imperils the Separation of Powers" Edward Lazarus, FindLaw,
December, 2005.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/lazarus/20051222.html
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