Tuesday, July 8, 2008


If You Think FISA Doesn't Matter

Tomorrow the U.S. Senate will vote to take away the last shred of your protection against the government spying on your every move, without a warrant.

If you can't be bothered to follow Glenn Greenwald's impeccable arguments, if you still hold Judith Miller against the New York Times, then please take a few seconds to read a four-line poem from an Obama supporter opposed to his FISA cave:

When politicians continue to play fast and loose with the Bill of Rights, it's more than a core issue. It's a violation of their oath of office to uphold the Constitution. If you don't value those rights, that's fine. But there will come a time when you may have a need of those rights. Don't think that the government will just give those rights back once they take them. Martin Niemöller's poem comes to mind. If you will allow me a slight variation (Original Poem):

First they came for my right of protection against illegal searches and seizures,- but I had nothing to hide, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for my right to due process,- but I was not accused, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for my right of habeas corpus,- but I was not locked up, so I did not speak out.
And when they came for my freedom of speech, there was no way left for me to speak out.


Slippery slope, people. Slippery slope.-Alexis N. Mueller

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.