House Approves Warrantless Wiretapping

inKubus writes to mention an AP article about the approval of a warrantless wiretapping bill by the house. The legislation's goal would be to legitimize the wiretapping program President Bush previously authorized, with a few new restrictions. Despite this victory for the President, "Leaders concede that differences between the versions are so significant they cannot reconcile them into a final bill that can be delivered to Bush before the Nov. 7 congressional elections. The Senate also could vote on a similar bill before Congress recesses at the end of the week. For its part, the White House announced it strongly supported passage of the House version but wasn't satisfied with it, adding that the administration 'looks forward to working with Congress to strengthen the bill as it moves through the legislative process.'"

Re:Oblig Quote

[lbrandy]

"Those who would use the same quote at every opportunity, spread neither wisdom nor understanding." ~ me

"Those who sum up complicated situations with a single well worded statement are almost always full of shit." ~me (oh wait..)

Re:Quote

[Ackmo]

"Those who would use the same quote at every opportunity, spread neither wisdom nor understanding." ~ QCompson

Re:Who cares about rights?

[Svartalf]

...and he's spinning hard enough to power all of the DC metro area- no wonder why they're doing this; free energy...

The HP way

[b1t r0t]

Once again HP shows its technological leadership by being ahead of the curve in warrantless surveillance.

Re:Oblig Quote

[lucabrasi999]

"What America needs is a good 25-cent Beer" ~ me

Re:Republicans!

[snarkh]

Are you coddling terrorists by making statements like that? And you probably don't
like democracy as well. I think we might have to have your phone line wiretapped.

Re:So what are you going to do?

[f1055man]

But now what are you going to do? Just rant here on Slashdot? That won't accomplish very much.

Give me a sec man, it takes time to fill the molotov cocktails.

no, no, that's the way it used to be, before 9/11

[misanthrope101]

The 4th Amendment, while generally a great and noble idea, was written with a pre 9/11 mentality. The world has changed. Power doesn't corrupt any more--now it's necessary, even beneficial to freedom, to confer as much unchecked, unsupervised power on the Executive branch as we can, as quickly as we can. Now you can trust government! The old way of thinking required a suspicion that power, once achieved, would be abused, but we don't have to believe that anymore, not unless you want us stuck in a pre-9/11 way of thinking. Don't you get it? Everything is different now!

The only way things could ever change back to the way they were, the only way we would have to be cautious about how much power we give government, is if a Democrat is elected. Then, yes, it follows that power corrupts, and is inimical to freedom. But until that day, don't get stuck in a pre 9/11 mentality. If you need me to repeat it a few more times for effect, I can. Sorry about not being good enough at HTML to have a flag waving in the background as you read this.

*sigh*

[Tony]

Well worn quotes not a substitute for thought

Apparently, you have found a substitute for thought: spouting White House talking points.

1) What's a "terror insurgency?" Please define.

2) How are the terrorists fascists? Define fascism, and illustrate how the terrorists fit the definition. For extra points, illustrate how our current government is not increasingly fitting the definition.

3) Explain how giving the executive branch the ability to monitor its citizens without oversight protects liberty.

4) Defend the government's rejection of the Geneva Convention.

5) (bonus question) Explain how the terrorists threaten liberty.

Good luck. You have fifty minutes. Begin now.

Re:Republicans!

[Red Flayer]

This spying bill is pretty bad, but it's not nearly as big a blemish on our country as the Detainee/Trials/Torture bill that just got passed. If you want to see some real evidence of the terrorists winning against our freedoms, read up on that.

Well, not to be facetious or anything ;), but this sounds like a great anti-terrorism plan to me.

We all know that the terrorists hate us for our freedoms. It's simple logic to deduce that if we reduce our freedoms, we will also reduce the number of terrorists.

Bravo, GWB, Bravo. Genius!

Re:What I've Done

[KingSkippus]

The rest could be hit by a bus and I wouldn't really care.

I find this incredibly insensitive. Do you have any idea what hitting that many people would do to a bus?

Re:What I've Done

[ozeki]

What I find draws the most attention, when my handwriting is illegible, is to cut out letters of various typefaces and sources and glue them all together. Also it helps to title the letter with 'Manifesto'. I hope this helps.