Late Friday night, the Senate passed S.1927, giving Bush, et. al. the power to intercept communications with someone "reasonably believed" to be outside the U.S. 16 Democrats joined Joe Lieberman and 43 Republicans in giving away our freedom. Russ Feingold was quoted in the NY Times as saying that it "goes far, far beyond" the NSA spying program.
Last night, again in the middle of the night, over 40 House Democrats also showed themselves to be supporters of tyranny by voting to pass this bill.
Even in the debate it was obvious that those who support this bill are un-American liars. Heather Wilson (R-NM), for example, claimed that the bill would sunset after six months, when it clearly states: "Notwithstanding any other law, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General, may for periods of up to one year authorize the acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States..." (emphasis mine).
On the other side, the first Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison (D-MN), quoted the Fourth Amendment in opposing the bill. What a twist of fate that in these days of the "War on [Muslim] Terror." fought for the stated purpose of opposing those who hate freedom, the only Muslim in Congress is trying to protect our freedom!
The other problem is that it is almost impossible to get such a law struck down. The courts generally do not allow people to challenge a law unless they get caught up in it. In other words, you have to prove that your communications were intercepted in order to challenge the law -- and since it's a secret process, nobody knows if they are being watched.
We're in for more rough times, folks.
