Warrantless Wiretapping
A few days ago, I sent the following letter to my U.S. Senators regarding President Bush's authorization of the National Security Agency (NSA, at one time so secret that it was referred to as No Such Agency) to conduct warrentless surveillance of American citizens. This CNN article, written in December of last year, shortly after the New York Times broke the story, gives some background information on this issue. This Reuters article summarizes a speech given by former Vice President Al Gore in January, in which he called for the appointment of an Independent Counsel (same meaning as Special Prosecutor) to investigate the legality of Bush's authorization.
Dear Senator,
I am writing today to express my concern regarding President Bush's authorization of the NSA to perform wiretaps and other information gathering procedures on American citizens without any warrant or judicial oversight. It appears to me that the consensus of legal opinion on this matter is that this authorization was illegal. The President of the United States is not above the law. If he has broken the law, he must be made to answer for his action. This is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of protecting and defending our Democracy from a Chief Executive who may have chosen to ignore the rule of law. I do not believe that this matter can be effectively dealt with by partisan Congressional or Senate hearings. Therefore, I urge you to support the appointment a special prosecutor to objectively investigate the legality of the President's action.
Thank you for your attention to my concerns on this important matter.
Sincerely,
Dear Senator,
I am writing today to express my concern regarding President Bush's authorization of the NSA to perform wiretaps and other information gathering procedures on American citizens without any warrant or judicial oversight. It appears to me that the consensus of legal opinion on this matter is that this authorization was illegal. The President of the United States is not above the law. If he has broken the law, he must be made to answer for his action. This is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of protecting and defending our Democracy from a Chief Executive who may have chosen to ignore the rule of law. I do not believe that this matter can be effectively dealt with by partisan Congressional or Senate hearings. Therefore, I urge you to support the appointment a special prosecutor to objectively investigate the legality of the President's action.
Thank you for your attention to my concerns on this important matter.
Sincerely,
6 Comments:
Honestly I don find American population politically alert. There are not many who care for what's happening in their country. Maybe due to the gained comfort & the hard daily work which is needed to keep it that way. Everyone is happy with the things go as far as they don lose property. Political insight is for the minority. I find it truely insulting if someone decided to wiretap my conversations! this not jus the terrorism aspect I am talking but business, personal info which might lead to ones destruction & ... But hey George is above it all...
Hi Omid,
I agree with your observation. Most Americans are very politically disconnected. Also, if they bother to vote (which more than half do not!), they usually don't consider voting for the greater good, but rather vote for who ever promises to best satisfy their selfish needs.
Considering that I sometimes write to people in Iran and Iraq, I am assuming that my emails may have been monitored. Actually, I am a lot more worried about what the Iranian police might do to my friends than what the NSA will do with my messages. Still, the road that Bush is following could be the road to future tyranny if it is not stopped.
:-) don worry mate it ain't as fearful as some make it seem. I haven' heard of any reports of such kind ;-)
btw are U gonna take the same policy of a-post-in-a-century here as well ;-)
Good letter, David. Did you happen to catch the hearings on CSpan, in which Gonsalez (I misspell his name everytime, sorry) just kept on stonewalling? "Sorry, I don't feel comfortable answering that question"...? Aaargh.
Omid, I'm glad to hear that things are not so fearful in Iran! :) I know it has been a long time to wait for my other blog. Sorry, I am working on something special. It is forming slowly, but I want to do it right. I have to finish it before I can move on to other things. Thanks for hanging in there! :)
Thanks Jarvenpa. I didn't see Gonzales (I'm not sure if that is right either :) ) at the hearings, but I heard some about him later on the news shows. I honestly believe that the Atty General of the United States should serve the people, not the President! I wish it was an elected position, as it is in many States. His answers seem to echo those of our two newest Supreme Court members. Aaargh, indeed!
hey David was wondering about your disapperance lately & thought to drop by & witness some evidence or perhaps see a ransom note here on your release! ;-)
anyways still waiting man... move it!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home