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FISA Bill Vote Today, With Telco Immunity

Posted by kdawson on from the freedom-on-the-march dept.

Bimo_Dude writes "Today (June 20), Steny Hoyer is bringing to the House floor the latest FISA bill (PDF), which includes retroactive immunity for the telcos. The bill also is very weak on judicial review, allowing the telcos to use a letter from the president as a 'get out of liability free' card. Here are comments from the EFF. Glenn Greenwald, writing in Salon, describes the effect of the immunity clause this way: 'So all the Attorney General has to do is recite those magic words — the President requested this eavesdropping and did it in order to save us from the Terrorists — and the minute he utters those words, the courts are required to dismiss the lawsuits against the telecoms, no matter how illegal their behavior was.'"

5 of 465 comments (clear)

  1. Glenn Greenwald is Da Man! by sponglish · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well if Glenn Greenwald said it, I agree with him. Glenn is always right and he's very smart and has LOADS of integrity. Yay Glenn!

    Signed
    Not a sock-puppet.

    --
    "I improvise. It's my greatest talent. I prefer situations to plans..." --Wintermute, William Gibson's "Neuromancer"
  2. Re:tar and feather the sob's by oodaloop · · Score: 3, Funny

    Heck, we should tar and feather them anyway...every presidential candidate should learn what it feels like before they reach that office. Um...tar and feathering is lethal. Not that I'm against it. Just saying.
    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  3. Re:tar and feather the sob's by nurb432 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sounds like anti-American terrorist talk to me, attempting to incite/support violence against a standing congressman.

    Please come with us, we have a few questions for you.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  4. Attention mods: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    US Constitution states...

    Please mod parent post +VII "Quaint, with Olde World Charm".

  5. Re:New laws by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Your first amendment comes out to 51 words.