Barack Obama's statement supporting the FISA amendment suggests he is slowly moving to the center, while his Democratic colleagues demonstrate that they are INCAPABLE of delivering on their promises which got them control of Congress!

Campaign donations from individual employees, managers, execs, etc. at a company is not mean they are lobbying for the company they work for in any way.

Whenever you donate, you have to list place of employment.

I work for a media giant, but most of those around me at work can't stand the news division's right wing BS. There are many, many people in the oil, media and telecom industries that do not agree with the Bush Administration tactics or supporters.

What is the point ? - the DP is riddled with cancer, lacks courage and principles.

Vote 3rd Party - either the Green or Libertarian party has courage and principles.

Let's find out which telecom companies DID NOT COMPLY with the intelligence request to eavesdrop on our communications!

Then the citizens of the U.S. should transfer all of our e-mail, internet and phone business to these companies!

Isn't that one way the "invisible hand of the marketplace" could work to show the corporations what the consumers demand?

"Protection of Persons Assisting the Government." Section 802(a) provides:

[A] civil action may not lie or be maintained in a Federal or State court against any person for providing assistance to an element of the intelligence community

This sickening description of "persons" helping to spy on Americans really refers to the Supreme Court error of 1886 allowing 'corporations' and later by extension this ruling 'corporatist Empire', hiding behind the facade of the two-party 'Vichy' government, pose as "persons" and to spy on real human American persons.

Thus this legislation is interesting in that it is the first to formally assert that the ruling 'corporatist Empire' is above the law ---- and can spy on, oppress, and legally apply tyranny to any human American through the 'Vichy' charade of its political whores (of both corporatist parties).

Now we can clearly see what Nader means about the sicide of continually voting for the "least worst".

A 2006 USA Today article can be found here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm

According to USAT, Qwest was the only telecom that refused to participate. They were asked, cajoled and, ultimately, threatened with loss of government contracts. As of that writing, they continued to refuse and left a hole in the database that the NSA had to struggle to fill in order to get complete national coverage.

I don't know if Qwest is an option for everyone but it sure would be nice.

How does the saying go?

"You can fool all of the people some of the time...

...You can fool some of the people all of the time...

...But you can't fool all of the people all of the time!"

Have I got that right?

As GW Bush and Gang have clearly demonstrated over the past seven years...the thieves who rule us don't really NEED to fool all the people all the time... they are managing very well indeed with fooling just the some of the people some of the time!

And this article demonstrates that the Democrats have been participating in almost equal measure, in fooling the people (or getting fooled themselves)...

US citizens (and citizens around the world, in fact) need to start investigating the systems that govern them in rather greater depth than they currently do. It's very clear that the superficial attention we have been paying to our 'systems of governance' just will not do. (Actually that should be 'systems of mis-governance and mal-administration'... and we still haven't caught on!)

I think even the execrable GW Bush had some appropriate words of wisdom..."Fool me once - shame on you...fool me twice - shame on me!

Well, he did it once, and got himself all the funding he needed to launch his dirty war...and now, it's happening all over again, and the Democratic 'Leadership' in Congress have STILL not caught on to the game!!!

--- GSC

I am an American citizen and it is my Duty to break any laws that are Contrary to my Nations Ideals.

When FISA was instituted many Americans were agaisnt it based upon Constitutional grounds first and foremost and it was these grounds that when War Powers ACT was instituted we also fought and I bring both those Acts up because they are a great part of why we in the United States today are becoming a Dictatorship.

American History has always shown that given an inch by simple allowance of seemingly a simple law outside of Constitutional boundarys that law would only be added too and even if done on an emergency basis and with a so called sunset clause never fully ended.

The granting of any powers to either Congress or the Executive Branches outside of Constitutional limits has always led to abuses of those powers.

It is a lesson that history should of taught us, as it had our founders,"That once a Freedom was Lost there was only one way to regain it, Remove those who took the freedom from us."

Sadly today the definition of freedom has been reduced to complying to what mandates of government decides is freedom and Rights now reduced to granting of priveleges by the priveleged.

Even more sad is the fact that people no longer recognize they have a right to resist such actions and that the political system they live under is so askewed as to make any challenge to authority in even the slightest means now concidered a Crime Against the State and subject to imprisonment in the least or else a life of limited travel and opportunity for economic advancement or expression of ideas.

Long time past being able to reverse those powers and long time past having a society who cares or dares to even try.