[Davis Democrats] Beat back Telecom Immunity -Warrantless Spying began 7 months BEFORE 9-11

[John Chendo]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Bill of Rights Defense Committee <bordc at mail.democracyinaction.org>
Reply-To: <bordc at mail.democracyinaction.org>
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:43:28 -0500 (EST)
To: <jac07 at dcn.org>
Subject: Beat back Telecom Immunity - Shut Down Guantanamo

   

Dear John,
 Our time is now - time to use our grassroots power to hold elected
officials accountable!  Here are two immediate opportunities:
 
1. Call your senators to insist that they don't vote to let
telecommunication companies off the hook for their role in warrantless
wiretapping. 
2. Organize locally to mark the sixth anniversary of the first detainees
imprisoned at Guantanamo, January 11.
 


 Beat Back Telecom Immunity
 The people have spoken:  Impartial U.S. courts with juries must decide the
cases of the telecommunications companies' role in warrantless wiretapping. 
It must not be a political decision!  Offering immunity is a cover-up that
prevents government accountability.
 
 On Monday, after a long day of Senate debate on S. 2248, the FISA
Amendments Act 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=6pTvYsuJgJA4GPj8X7CI
UlrZZZzLiM3w> , which would have provided immunity, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, fearing a filibuster, pulled the contentious bill off the floor
and postponed consideration of the bill until the Senate returns from recess
on January 8, 2008.
 
 According to the New York Times
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=dO73Bm88zbZsmbn7mDHg
b1rZZZzLiM3w> , the administration approached telephone companies about
warrantless wiretapping in February 2001, a revelation that disproves the
administration's claims that the program and immunity are justified by the
threat of terrorism or by Congress's October 2001 authorization to use
military force.
 
 What you can do:
 If you called your Senators to express your concerns about S. 2248, thank
you!  Keep it up!
 
 We have a few weeks to call Senate offices and to meet with Senators
holding January town hall meetings in their home states.  Call
1-202-224-3121 today, and ask the switchboard operator to connect you to
both of your senators or look up their direct office telephone numbers at
www.senate.gov 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=eIFa%2BgrvjtBrKZTklR
9Jt1rZZZzLiM3w> .  Here are sample talking points:
 
 Tell your senators either to allow the Protect America Act to sunset OR to
support the Judiciary Committee version of S. 2248.  Remind them that:
 

 
* The administration's wiretapping program predated the September 11th
terrorist attacks, so any attempts to justify the program as narrowly
focused on suspected terrorists are bogus.
* Congress must let the cases against the phone companies go forward.  The
American people need to know about government abuses of our Fourth Amendment
right to be free from unreasonable searches.  Granting immunity to the
telecommunications companies in order to scuttle those cases has nothing to
do with national security.  And remember, not all telecom companies handed
over customer records.  The refusal of Qwest to cooperate without a warrant
shows that companies had a clear choice - to follow the law, or not.
* Immunity for the telecommunications companies sets a pitiful precedent
that Congress's laws are meant to be broken, and that when they are broken
by the administration, the corporations or both, Congress will simply
rewrite the laws to legalize their crimes and misdemeanors.
 


 Organize to Shut Down Guantanamo January 11
 BORDC is endorsing the January 11 action of Witness Against Torture to shut
down Guantánamo.  Our aim is to raise public awareness about the lack of due
process and continued abuses that U.S. media ignores, and to explore
effective strategies for demanding accountability from our elected
representatives, who so far have gotten away with sanctioning much
lawlessness.  Organizations can endorse
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=KLnMaHgCVCrGR2nhujI7
jVrZZZzLiM3w>  the national action in Washington D.C., and you take action
in your community. 
 
 Tools and other resources for your local action can be found here
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CCf%2FPd6vnYR7UkC4Nr
zTSFrZZZzLiM3w> .
 
 Meanwhile, you can learn more about the news you're missing daily about
Guantanamo by reading this article by Dahlia Lithwick on the new book, Eight
O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side, by Reprieve
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=unsRnP1djFAWlA5t0yFU
KVrZZZzLiM3w>  director Clive Stafford Smith
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=AmOOAI3d%2FMQ2st6fO7
z3LVrZZZzLiM3w>  . 
 
 Upcoming BORDC 2008 Campaign
 The time to stand up against these abuses so we can be our most effective
is now!  We cannot afford to watch as another administration is elected in
2008 that will allow the machinery that rolls over our Bill of Rights
protections to keep rolling on.  We must do all we can in our communities to
raise public awareness and hold our elected officials (and candidates for
office) accountable!  We will be contacting you soon about participating in
our 2008 campaign to make government accountability a reality.
 
 Thank you for all you do!
 
 Nancy Talanian, Director
 Hope Marston, West Region Organizer
 Ben Grosscup, East Region Organizer
 Michael Berg, Field Organizer
 Barbara Haugen, Administrator
 
          http://bordc.org
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=N1PB3SarAybyH4dB92Lj
zVrZZZzLiM3w> 
 

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