Bush used telecoms to spy illegally - uses FISA to try and protect his ass and the telecoms - far more important than protecting the American people.

AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein personally attached all of AT&T’s circuits — carrying every phone call, every e-mail, every bit of web browsing by millions of Americans into Room Number 641-A at the Folsom Street facility in San Francisco, where it was all copied so the government could look at it, ILLEGALLY. (see post on this illegal spying)

This FISA bill - the "Protect America Act" - should be called: "Protect Bush's Illegal Activities and his Telecom Accomplices Act." It's about one thing: immunity from the law and from the Constitution.

Why? Ask yourself this - why did the Bush Administration refuse to honor a Freedom of Information request to disclose documents revealing its lobbying ties with telecoms? Why did it require a court order to force Bush to reveal this information? Answer: immunity as payback - bought and paid for by Verizon and AT&T. He knows very well he broke the law and is trying to protect his ass and not reveal his motivations for doing so. It has little to with protecting America, it's all about absolving him from a crime, one of many Constitutional violations that warrant immediate impeachment.

Bush’s new Attorney General, Mr. Mukasey has a very personal stake in this. There happens to be a partner in the law firm of Bracewell and Giuliani, named Marc Mukasey. The Attorney General’s son Marc, just happens in the law firm that represents … VERIZON !!! Is the picture beginning to look a little clearer now?

How stupid does Bush think we are? During the State of the Union address, Bush demanded that Congress retroactively clear the telecoms but wouldn’t even confirm what they actually did for which they deserved to be cleared!

Bush demanded an extension of the FISA law, but only an extension that includes retroactive immunity for the telecoms who helped him spy on us. If Congress approves a new FISA act without telecom immunity and sends it to Bush, and he vetoes it — he, by his own terms and definitions, will have sided with the terrorists.

Wingnuts have suggested this desire to sue telecoms is a Democrat conspiracy fueled by lawyer funding. Well then, consider the lead plaintiffs’ counsel in the telecom suits is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a donor-funded, non-profit organization. If they were motivated by profit, pursuing these extremely time consuming lawsuits would be the last thing they would be doing. As Jeffraham Prestonian pointed out -

"It’s not about suing the telecoms into bankruptcy, either — it’s about having the sword of justice hanging over them so they will reveal how deep the rabbit hole goes — which journalists, legislators, activists, et al, were considered “terrorism suspects” by this crooked-ass, lawbreaking administration.

Christ, I remember when wingers shouted “Rule of Law!” when a guy lied about a blow job."

This is a textbook fascist agenda. Illegally compromise people’s civil rights with an agenda of fear and when they call you on it, question their patriotism and motives. Classic. Of course, authoritarians will either remain blindly ignorant of this issue, or blindly support this abuse of power and these Constitutional violations out of ignorance and fear. Bush uses the same tactic as the terrorists to try and implement an agenda - fear.

Most conservative Bush supporters are just too dumb or ignorant to know what is being taken from them - in this and in many cases.