There's no need for Obama nor anyone else to vote on the FISA bill now, it's unnecessary thanks to a Bush-appointed Appeals Court judge.

Judge Reject Bush's View on Wiretaps

Highlights from the article:

A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the “exclusive” means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government’s claim that the president’s constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law.

He said the rules for surveillance were clearly established by Congress in 1978 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires the government to get a warrant from a secret court. “Congress appears clearly to have intended to — and did — establish the exclusive means for foreign intelligence activities to be conducted,” the judge wrote.

 “Whatever power the executive may otherwise have had in this regard, FISA limits the power of the executive branch to conduct such activities and it limits the executive branch’s authority to assert the state secrets privilege in response to challenges to the legality of its foreign intelligence surveillance activities

Like many Democrats, I get sick and tired of the false presumption that Republicans are better for the military, more patriotic and just generally more all-American than Democrats. It's as false as the myth of the morality and steadfast wholesomeness of the Heartland - a myth belied by objective statistic on divorce, teen pregnancy, drug addiction and violent crime statistics.

It seems that no outrage pierces the prejudices of the media. That our soldiers showered in contaminated water because of Bush cronyism does not do it. The shameful treatment of soldiers returning from Iraq doesn't do it. The Walter Reed scandal doesn't do it. The Republican opposition to the new GI Bill does not do it. The media are conditioned to see Republicans as pro-military and nothing seems to change their mind.

But what if they were trying to keep our veterans from voting?  The Bush Administration has blocked voter registration efforts at VA nursing homes, rehab centers and the like. Sure shows how hypocritical their concern for military ballots in Florida was when they want to prevent vets from even registering to vote.

Two real heroes have taken this fight straight to the VA, Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, both Democrats have protested loudly and publicly. The Secretary of State herself went to do voter registration and was turned away.

For more information, you can read this article:
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