President Bush Discusses Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Legislation

President Bush Discusses Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Legislation

Nobody who's read this blog for a while can have many doubts about my feelings on the current president and his policies. Here's another example of what I don't like. The President is pushing for a renewal/beefing up of something called the "Protect America" act which I guess semi-legitimized the illegal surveillance  his administration had done in the past. Now he wants his "get out of jail" card made permanent.

In particular, look at this paragraph:

The final bill must meet certain criteria: It must give our intelligence professionals the tools and flexibility they need to protect our country. It must keep the intelligence gap firmly closed, and ensure that protections intended for the American people are not extended to terrorists overseas who are plotting to harm us. And it must grant liability protection to companies who are facing multi-billion-dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend our nation following the 9/11 attacks.

(emphasis added)

"Protections intended for the American people?" I thought we were a nation that believed in and valued basic human rights, not basic American rights. That's the same logic allows immigrants, illegal or not, to be treated more like objects than people. So we don't protect people, but we certainly do protect huge corporations from litigation.

I believe very strongly in America. That's why I oppose so much of what this administration stands for.