BlogHer - Photo protest to get Congress to stop telecom spying - Comments

I love the photo protest.

Catherine Morgan — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:23:48 -0600

I love the idea of a photo protest. Thanks for sharing this, I'm going to blog about it on my other blogs...and then do a photo of me and my daughter for the protest.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog

Here's the letter the John Edwards campaign is sending out

Kim Pearson — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:48:02 -0600

This was in my inbox:

Dear Kim,

When it comes to protecting the rule of law, words are not enough. We need action.

It's wrong for your government to spy on you. That's why I'm asking you to join me today in calling on Senate Democrats to filibuster revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that would give "retroactive immunity" to the giant telecom companies for their role in aiding George W. Bush's illegal eavesdropping on American citizens.

The Senate is debating this issue right now -- which is why we must act right now. You can call your Senators here:

Frank R. Lautenberg, (D): (202) 224-3224
Robert Menendez, (D): (202) 224-4744

Granting retroactive immunity is wrong. It will let corporate law-breakers off the hook. It will hamstring efforts to learn the truth about Bush's illegal spying program. And it will flip on its head a core principle that has guided our nation since our founding: the belief that no one, no matter how well connected or what office they hold, is above the law.

But in Washington today, the telecom lobbyists have launched a full-court press for retroactive immunity. George Bush and Dick Cheney are doing everything in their power to ensure it passes. And too many Senate Democrats are ready to give the lobbyists and the Bush administration exactly what they want.

Please join me in calling on every Senate Democrat to do everything in their power -- including joining Senator Dodd's efforts to filibuster this legislation -- to stop retroactive immunity and stand up for the rule of law. The Constitution should not be for sale at any price.

Thank you for taking action.

John Edwards
January 24, 2008

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Photo protest to get Congress to stop telecom spying

Liz Henry — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:44:35 -0600

The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Stop the Spying campaign asks for people all over the U.S. to send photos and videos of their opposition to the telecom immunity bill. Here's mine:

With Congress back in session this week and the Presidential season in full swing, the fight to prevent the Bush administration from granting immuniy to the telecoms for illegal spying is heating up once again. Activists and bloggers alike are keeping the heat on. -DeepLinks blog, Cindy Cohn

What does this bill mean? What are we fighting here?

For at least six years, President Bush has authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct dragnet surveillance on our domestic telecommunications networks, vacuuming up the private communications of millions of ordinary Americans with no warrants or other meaningful oversight. (Stopthespying.org)

In Salon, Glenn Greenwald interviews Cindy Cohn, who is the lead counsel in the EFF's litigation against AT&T.

The Archcrone of The Crone Speaks says:

Now, call me naive, but consumer protection should be first and foremost for all companies. That means, also protecting the consumer against government intrusion, unless there is a warrant. The fact of the matter is, this administration could have used warrants and NSL’s to obtain this information, and they chose not to. Therefore, I find that telecoms violated consumer privacy laws, when handing over that information to the government.
- Telecoms Should Not Be Given Immunity, Archcrone

And Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake reports on John Edwards' take on the legislation:

"It's time for Senate Democrats to show a little backbone and stand up to George W. Bush and the corporate lobbyists. They should do everything in their power -- including joining Senator Dodd's efforts to filibuster this legislation -- to stop retroactive immunity. The Constitution should not be for sale at any price." John Edwards, quoted on Firedoglake

This morning I uploaded my photo of protest to Flickr and emailed it to photo@stopthespying.org. Contributions are being added here as well: http://flickr.com/photos/stopthespying. This message is my favorite so far: "In my profession, we would never ask to be let off the hook for violating the privacy rights of our customers. But what do I know? I'm just a librarian."

I'd love to see how BlogHers will get creative with this one with their photos and videos!