Thoughts on FISA

[harryh]

So, as most of you are aware, the US Senate passed a bill yesterday that, among other things, gives the Telcos immunity against privacy lawsuits they are facing after they (possibly illegally) assisted the US gov't in various wiretapping schemes over the last couple of years. In particular, the liberal blogosphere is up in arms as the fact that

Comments

[billyfleetwood]

My main problem with the "just doing what they were told" excuse comes from working for and with big companies with big legal departments. I think the general public imagines a scenario involving a person asking another person to do something, and view the idea of "illegal" in the abstract.

The telcos had rooms full of lawyers who knew the exact wording, precedents, and ramifications involving the laws that were broken. It's also worth noting that this started BEFORE 9/11. Which means before they had the motivation of "fighting terror" and more importantly, before The Bush Administration had any real traction or power as far as executive overreach goes. I don'tthink they acted out of fear, so much as assurances that they had nothing to worry about. Which again leadsto the idea that the abuses of the Administration over the past 8 years weren't mere opportunism, but planned all along.

And that's where I start to sound like a conspiracy nut. But anyone who's ever read more than one book on how the Mafia operates would not find any of the actions of this administration surprising in the least.

[r_transpose_p]

explain the mafia connection?

I am not familiar with how the mafia works -- although "The Godfather" was a pretty good movie.