First off, I'm dead set against any rewarding of clear, lawbreaking, which is exactly what immunity does for these telecoms
And I'm also desirous to see W get at least one veto threat rammed back down his throat
There's a way to offer telecom immunity with conditions so odious Bush Jr will veto it as soon as it reaches his desk
And that's how to paint Rat Bastard Bush Jr into a corner
And that corner is W vetoing the telecom immunity he and his rapidly shrinking sheeple herd so fervently insist upon, even in the absence of an overwhelming groundswell of popular fury in favor of Bush Jr's desire to protect the telecoms privacy at the clear expense of the voters privacy
"Poison Pills" are a concept business-degree graduate Bush Jr should understand
I've posted a previous diary on framing the issue of retroactive telecom immunity, but let's use different tactics to bring the political pain to President Bush Jr and his bipartisan lackeys, with one tactic already in use, The South Africa Truth & Reconciliation Commission
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the end of Apartheid. Anybody who felt he or she had been a victim of violence could come forward and be heard at the TRC. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution.
In what I'm proposing, the heavy-hitters in the telecom industry are the ones wanting forgiveness and legal immunity for their clear lawbreaking, but such an action must come with a price so dear than no entities or corporations must ever again even think of asking for such legal indemnification
And since the industry wronged their own customers by turning over their information without a search warrant to this Administration, the evil they've done must be punished financially and shunned socially
These are the Poison Pills
In return for being granted legal immunity from their clear wrongdoing at the expense of their own customers, the telecom companies involved will, with no obstruction or delay:
Immediately disclose how many Administration requests for information were done both with and without a warrant, and the dates every request were made
Immediately disclose which customers information and communications were turned over to the Administration without any kind of a search warrant, and immediately disclose that information to the wronged customers. That information must include the specifics of such datamining, including the times, dates, and what kind of information was sought and turned over
The telecoms must disclose not only the identities of those who ordered the warrantless spying on their customers, but also list every time and date such information was ordered from the telecom executives in question
The telecoms must immediately refund the warrantlessly spied-upon customers bills during the time such warrantless data-mining occurred should the customers demand
The telecoms must arrange to pay for the warrantlessly spied-upon customers switch to a new telecom carrier should the customer demand
The telecoms must immediately pay all legal expenses for all legal actions cut short by the granting of legal immunity
If the Administration is truly in favor of legal immunity for the telecoms, it must also comply with the following
Immediately explain why any US citizens caught up in any so called "terrorist dragnet" were initially investigated
Submit fully to an Independent Counsel's investigation into warrantless spying on US citizens and purely domestic communications, with full subpoena powers granted to the Independent Counsel, and NO refusal to comply with any subpoena from ANY Administration official
The Administration must disclose every instance in which information was sought both with and without a warrant, and list its justifications for obtaining information without either a warrant or an "exigent circumstances" situation
In order for such legal immunity to be granted, the Administration must immediately agree to reverting back to the FISA laws as they were in operation before Sept 11, and no legal action will be immunized from such warrantless data-mining starting from the date the legal immunity is granted for the telecoms
This is just a partial list, undoubtedly other conditions should be attached for such an outrageous subverting of the 4th Amendment
I live in Rep Reyes district, and am not surprised that he's willing to kiss W's ass. How nice it would have been if that spine Reyes showed with his fire & brimstone FISA missives to this President had been a permanent reality. Understand too, that just because Reyes gets to see and understand this Administration's warrantless rationales does NOT mean he'll feel the voters have the same rights in this respect as he does
There's going to be a challenger to Reyes in the General Election, but he'll have to wait until after the primary tomorrow to get 500 signatures of registered voters-who did not vote in the primaries-in order to run against Reyes. If the House Dems do cave, I'll whole-heartedly support Reyes non-GOP opponent come November, as I'm also still irate that Reyes voted for that monstrosity called "bankruptcy reform"
I know this diary is very much in the "wishful thinking" category, but Damn it, this constant capitulation to the most unpopular, corrupt, arrogant and incompetent President & Administration in history has GOT to stop at some point