Two weeks ago I posted some suggestions for going to work opposing the sellout of our Constitutional liberties, the destruction of meaningful oversight, the dramatic expansion of Presidential power, and the get-out-of-jail-free card for past lawlessness embodied in the FISA Amendments Act (H.R. 6304).

Debate is today and the vote is likely tomorrow.  The vote was only delayed because of Jesse Helms's funeral. I will allow the irony of that to pass without comment.

I will be writing more, I hope this week or next, on why the bill is as bad or worse than the critics (myself included) thought, why it's not an "improvement" on the March Senate bill, and why Obama is dead wrong on this. 

Meanwhile, there is this one article from Tim Lee at Ars Technica on why the bill is awful beyond telecom immunity.  It effectively puts the lie to the excuses given by the Pelosis, Hoyers, Rockefellers, Feinsteins and Obamas of the Beltway.  One graf:

Specifically, the new legislation dramatically expands the government's
ability to wiretap without meaningful judicial oversight, by redefining
"oversight" so that the feds can drag their feet on getting
authorization almost indefinitely. It also gives the feds unprecedented
new latitude in selecting eavesdropping targets, latitude that could be
used to collect information on non-terrorist-related activities like
P2P copyright infringement and online gambling. In short, the FISA
Amendments Act of 2008 opens up loopholes so large that the feds could
drive a truck loaded down with purloined civil liberties through it. So
the telecom immunity stuff is just the smoke; let's take a look at the
fire.

The rest of the article explains and expands those ideas.

Why is it so important?  Beyond what Tim Lee writes, have a look at this op-ed by Julian Sanchez in the LA Times from last March, which is when this issue last came up.  He describes the history of Presidential spying from Harding and Teapot Dome through Nixon and Watergate -- who was spied on, why, and to what ends.  At least, a few of the ones we know about.  Bottom line: invoke "national security" and then use it to spy on anybody who might oppose you politically.  Oh, by the way, the English monarchy was notorious for doing that, which is why the Framers were so adamant in opposition.

But enough for now.  I'm assuming you've already called, faxed, written, whatever.  If you haven't, you can use this tool to at least call your Senators (I'd recommend calling Reid and Obama as well.)  There are toll-free numbers available, but you can also always call 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to whichever Senator you want to talk to.

Assuming you've done that, I'm asking you to do a couple more things.  And they involve money.

One is by contributing to the ActBlue FISA accountability page.  But that's just the start.

You may have heard of the "Strange Bedfellows" campaign -- a coalition of groups and bloggers on the libertarian right and the civil libertarian left.  They've launched the AccountabilityNowPAC and are planning a "moneybomb" campaign for August 8, 34 years to the day that Richard Nixon was forced to resign. 

Sign up here to pledge a donation on Friday, August 8.

The moneybomb is the technique that Ron Paul supporters used to raise $6M in a single day back in January (IIRC).

Here's more info on what's happening.

Who Are The Strangebedfellows?
Strangebedfellows is a unique and diverse left--right coalition which
has come together to put a stop to the eradication of civil liberties
in America. Modeled on a similar group in Britain, the initial
Strangebedfellows group encompasses Ron Paul supporters (BreakTheMatrix.com, Rick Williams and Trevor Lyman), leading bloggers from the left (Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com, Jane Hamsher of firedoglake.com)
and many more who share the view that warrantless surveillance, telecom
immunity and other such outrages of the lawless surveillance state MUST
END—AND END NOW. Our group of Strangebedfellows is organizing a
moneybomb on behalf of AccountabilityNowPAC,
and we’re reaching out to friends and colleagues from across the
political spectrum who believe in the Bill of Rights and freedom in
America. So join us-- become a Strangebedfellow! Add your name and
group to our list of backers, and enter your pledge today to donate to
AccountabilityNowPAC. Let’s reverse these police state sellouts by our
political leaders—FOREVER.


Here’s What We’re Asking You To DoStrangebedfellows has
retained BreakTheMatrix to serve as our moneybomb organizer and service
provider for a massive donations collection effort on behalf of
AccountabilityNowPAC. Remember the giant moneybombs from the Ron Paul
presidential campaign? Well Trevor Lyman was the man behind those
efforts, and he and his BreakTheMatrix colleagues are the leading
experts in the world in online moneybomb fundraising. Here’s how it
works:


You enter your pledge today—RIGHT NOW-- by clicking the “Pledge” button
on the side of this website screen. This pledge becomes your commitment
to contribute (maximum donation $5000) to AccountabilityNowPAC on
August 8, 2008—the moneybomb collection day. Visit our website often
over the next month to watch the pledges mount and to learn about the
growing array of supporters and groups who are choosing to become
Strangebedfellows with us. Then the key event—you COME BACK on August
8, 2008, and make your actual money contribution through our online
collection service right here at www.AccountabilityNowPAC.com. The
force and power of a moneybomb is simple and straightforward. We all
donate on the SAME DAY, and working together we send our political
leaders (Democrat and Republican) a freedom message they will never
forget. So help us make it work. Pledge today; then come back and
donate on the 8th. Let’s show our leaders once and for all that there
is a POWERFUL movement here that will settle for nothing less than
constitutional governance in America.

Why August 8th?
That is the day in 1974 when Richard Nixon was forced to resign from
office for his lawbreaking and surveillance abuses. That day
illustrates how far we have fallen in this country in less than 35
years, as we now not only permit rampant presidential lawbreaking and a
limitless surveillance state, but have a bipartisan political class
that endorses it and even retroactively protects the lawbreakers.


Become a Strangebedfellow; and we thank you for pledging.

As noted in the quote, similar efforts and a similar debate with a similar cast of characters are underway in the UK, where surveillance is just as draconian, and like here, is sparking a left-right coalition of civil libertarians who are determined to bring back democratic, accountable government, whatever their other differences may be.

Please sign up and prepare to give generously.  August 8 is the day.

OK, this is my first "blog post" and I admit I'm doing it somewhat in haste.  Just hoping to get the word out.  If you agree that the word needs to get out, please rec.

After the craven House vote last week, the fight on the national surveillance state legislation (a/k/a the "FISA amendments act") moves to the Senate.  The odds are long and the time is short.  But as Glenn Greenwald says:

Christy Hardin Smith at FDL has all of the key information
for pressuring swaying Senators to keep amnesty out of the FISA bill
this week. Personally, I think the only remotely plausible pressure
points are demanding that Obama complies with his filibuster promise
and doing the same with Chris Dodd, and by "remotely plausible" I mean
"something that is, in theory, not absolute zero." Still, even battles
that are almost certain to end in a loss are worth waging until the
bitter end.

As described elsewhere (noted below) by  Christy Hardin Smith at Firedoglake, Digby, Glenn Greenwald, and others, this is truly horrible legislation, and completely unnecessary, either for security, or even to ensure Democrats' electoral chances in November.  So, while there's any chance at all, anyone who respects the Constitution really must keep the pressure on in the Senate.

Herewith a plethora of links, for action and background.

Christy Hardin Smith at Firedoglake on turning up the pressure:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/23/fisa-turning-up-the-pressure/

Among many other things, the post contains several toll-free numbers for contacting Congress, and the names and direct numbers of the (dozens of) Senators that need to be contacted.

And then as Christy notes:

<blockquote>And, for extra bonus points, here is contact information for the Democratic presidential candidate:

Sen. Barack Obama:

Phone: 312-819-2008 Toll Free: (866) 675-2008 FAX: 312-819-2088</blockquote>

McJoan at Kos on the same topic:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/22/115325/671/841/540213

McJoan's post also quotes Glenn Greenwald in saying that emailing Obama's spokesman, Bill Burton, and demand that Obama uphold his pledge to filibuster:

bburton@barackobama.com

MoveOn.org (which, you recall, endorsed Obama early in the primary season) is urging a campaign focused on Obama:

 http://pol.moveon.org/immunity/080621obama.html

Don't forget to contribute to the campaign targeting those Democrats who are most responsible for selling out the Constitution:

http://www.actblue.com/page/fisa

(Almost $311,000 raised so far.  They're targeting HO-yer, Carney and Barrow (for whom Obama, pathetically, just cut an ad).  The first salvo is a full-page anti-Hoyer ad to run in the Washington Post this week.  Greenwald has more details.)

You can also email your Senators with this link:

https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=975&page=UserAction

If you agree that this issue needs your work and support, read no further.  The links above give you pretty much everything you need to do for the time being.

For those who think that this bill is Just Swell, Reasonable, a Bipartisan Compromise, the Best We Could Get, Necessary In An Election Year, Necessary for Fighting Terrorism, and all those other tired excuses we hear over and over and over from capitulationist (or collusionist) Democrats and their supporters -- well, sorry, you're just going to have to read a little.

Ryan Singel at the Wired Threat Level blog does his usual good analysis:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/dems-agree-to-e.html

(He is, however, wrong in repeating uncritically the claim that Hoyer was bowing to pressure from Blue Dogs.  Digby and others have made it quite clear that Hoyer and Pelosi were eagerly pushing this through on their own.)

One of several analyses from Glenn Greenwald, this one from late last week.  He's done a lot of good writing; if you want to consider yourself informed, scroll through his blog posts, especially this past week.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/19/telecom/index.html

ThinkProgress analysis:
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/progressreport/2008/06/pr20080623

Sen. Russ Feingold's list of what's awful about the bill:
http://feingold.senate.gov/issues_fisafacts.html

ACLU's analysis:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/35731res20080619.html

Greenwald on how this move is not only unnecessary, but counterproductive and near-suicidal for Democrats:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/15/poe/index.html

Similar analysis from Tim Lee at Ars Technica:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080312-analysis-firm-stance-on-fisa-pays-big-dividends-for-dems.html

Julian Sanchez's analysis:
http://www.juliansanchez.com/2008/06/20/another-dodgy-dossier/

An astonishing post from Wired's Ryan Singel reveals that Pelosi doesn't even remember her oath of office:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/house-grants-te.html

More from dday at Digby:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/bill-of-rights-okd-for-destruction-by.html


On why we should care, and just how craven a move this is:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/21/44652/2407/423/539606

Please do your part  -- unless, of course, you <i>like</i> living in a National Surveillance State.