Were it not for U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd's planned filibuster to block another White House assault on constitutional law, senators might well have passed legislation retroactively protecting major telecommunications companies from lawsuits growing out of their misguided eagerness to be used by the Bush administration to spy on U.S. citizens.
Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat who's running for president, clearly is a hero for facing down the Bush juggernaut, which rolls over laws not to its liking and dares the courts and Congress to do something about it. Democrats and Republicans who would have gone along on this treacherous abuse of congressional oversight responsibility are shameless lapdogs.
President Bush wants to indemnify two major phone companies, AT&T and Verizon, from damages that could be awarded for their complicity in eavesdropping on Americans without court orders. The corporations claim they had no choice but to cooperate with the National Security Agency.
By contrast, another company, Qwest, refused to cooperate and demanded a court order before it would allow NSA agents to bug phones. Qwest knew and abided by the law, while the others simply caved to White House pressure—despite the law.
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is clear: Citizens are protected from illegal searches and seizures.
Wrong-headed corporate officers who joined in George W. Bush's terrorist paranoia at the expense of constitutional rights should pay for their foolish, naïve palsy-walsy rush to please the president.
Americans are not prepared to sacrifice their constitutional liberties to immunize reckless behavior in the executive suite.
