See the arguments for telecom immunity be destroyed

Jay Rockefeller defends his telecom immunity spawn in the Washington Post. Glenn Greenwald dismantles every point Rockefeller tries to make piece by piece by piece. The most important point in the end: FISA already provides a defense for good faith belief in legality, only provided that the telecom in question needs to make the case for it. Another good distinction is recognizing the difference between the “days after 9-11” – remember, the FISA law already allows for emergency actions with follow up subpoenas in compelling circumstances -- and continuing the otherwise unlawful behavior long after the company became fully aware that the government had no intention of going through the lawful process.

Nobody thinks that telecoms should not be able to cooperate fully (and very profitably) with the government to fight the terrorists. However, watch for the right wing slime machine to level that accusation expressly or by strong innuendo. Total dishonesty never stopped them before. More than anything, this is about establishing Dick Cheney’s theories of completely unchecked Executive powers, to the detriment of the Constitutional authority of Congress and the judicial branch. It should be a “conservative” issue supreme – to people who are true conservatives, and not ones who claim that mantle but are actually radical right wing reactionaries -- as well as an issue for liberals and progressives. Rockefeller and his compatriots who waved this thing through are going right along with undermining the authority of Congress to make the laws.

Somehow we've got to get traction for Greenwald's powerful arguments.