The reason the FISA Amendments Act is so important is that it is at the heart of the struggle to maintain a democracy in the face of, at times, overwhelming pressure to scuttle the rule of law for expediency, self-interest, or just plain old stupidity. A law does not cease to exist just because the president says it does. Please, let us remember that there are still two other branches of our government to be dealt with first. It is a good system. It is what has kept the US from becoming a monarchy. There is no reason to change it. One King George was enough.
The comments after the original Slashdot post are also worth reading.
ivantheshifty writes with news of a delayed vote (failed filibuster attempt aside) on the updated FISA bill which has been discussed here recently, in particular because it would grant telecom companies immunity (under certain conditions) from suits for wiretapping conducted at government request. According to the Associated Press story carried by the Washington Post,
"Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and more than a dozen other senators who oppose telecom immunity threw up procedural delays that threatened to force the Senate into a midnight or weekend session. The prospect of further delays was enough to cause Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to postpone the vote until after the weeklong July 4 vacation." (Read more)
SOURCE: Shashdot
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