RIP: The Fourth Amendment September 17, 1787 - July 9, 2008

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Bill of Rights, Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

July 9, 2008, a date that SHOULD live in infamy. It was on this date that a spineless, corrupt and utterly incompetent and cowardly Congress ONCE AGAIN, gave into the outrageous fear-mongering and unconstitutional demands of George W. Bush and the Republican Party by passing the FISA bill (which Bush WILL sign into law) expanding the powers and ability of the Executive Branch and the government in general to conduct ILLEGAL domestic spying against its own citizens under the pretense of "fighting terror" (the secret warrantless wiretapping program initiated by Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bush and his underlings DELIBERATELY broke the law by carrying this out bypassing oversight of the FISA court which must approve and give warrants for such actions), and just as odious, giving telecom companies (like Verizon, AT&T et al) immunity from civil lawsuits for cooperating in such nefarious activity (although maybe it's possible to prosecute a CRIMINAL lawsuit), the likes of which might've made the Nixon administration blush. Congress once again has proved its inherent worthlessness time and time again just mindlessly giving in to Bush's demands. Sadly, only a tiny literal handful of people in Congress (Dennis Kucinich, Henry Waxman, Ron Paul (a Republican) and Patrick Lahey) have opposed Bush and the Republicans (and fellow Democrats) on these issues. The Democrats won a major coup in the 2006 on a heavily-hyped promise of change and reform. With the exception of these 4 individuals (and maybe one or two I'm missing), the Democrats showed that they WILLINGLY LIED just to get elected, and since then, they've been nothing but enablers and willing accomplices to the criminal behavior of the Republicans in their attempts to destroy the Constitution and the very values this country was founded on. Traitors and cowards all of em! I also lost a MAJOR amount of respect for Barack Obama for his all-too-easy switching viewpoints on this bill, yes folks HE VOTED FOR IT (I'm sure in an attempt to woo Republican voters).

I dare say the one hope we have may be if a Federal or the Supreme Court strikes down this law as inherently unconstitutional (as a Federal court did with provisions of the Patriot Act),

To Congress, the Democrats AND The Republicans (save for the 4 afforementioned individuals I cited), I say that the only fate befitting you right now is either your execution (by firing squad or beheading) or your PERMANENT EXPULSION from this country altogether and I dare say that The Republicans AND the Democrats are deserving of such punishment as well for their willful and REMORSELESS assaults on the Constitution and our values as Americans. OFF WITH ALL OF YOUR HEADS!