It's a bit tacky for me to do this, but this post is just going to be an
email that I blind carbon-copied out to a group of friends and acquaintences
a moment ago. I think this is important, so I'm stooping to this level.
I'm sorry for the unsolicited email. It takes me getting pretty riled up to
send an unsolicited email like this, so I hope you'll forgive me.
Next week, the U.S. Senate is likely to pass a bill that will strip
Americans of their 4th Amendment rights with respect to having their
international telephone calls tapped without probable cause or the issuance
of a warrant. For those of us who would like to see this bill stopped, we
need to act quickly and get the word out to the public.
I've put together a flyer that I'm going to hand out at a parade I'm
attending Friday and a festival on Saturday. The flyer is available at
http://peeved.org/misc/Warrantless_Wiretap_Flyer.pdf,
and I'd encourage you to have a look. I've been over the text of my flyer
again and again, and I think it free of basic grammar and spelling mistakes
(though it's not necessarily very pretty). If you have suggestions or
criticisms, I'd love to hear them. I've tried to make something that eschews
partisan rhetoric and buzzwords and cuts to the heart of the matter-- the
fact that the rights of law-abiding Americans will be taken away by the
passage of this bill. It might be worded a bit sensationally, but I think
that getting the public fired up about this issue is important.
If you feel up to it, print some off and hand them out while you're out this
Independence Day weekend. If you don't, please visit the web site on the
flyer (http://tinyurl.com/6jxnsx),
look up the telephone numbers of your U.S. Senators, and give them a call to
let them know how you feel about this legislation. Even if you don't think
of yourself as "political", please take the few minutes necessary to make
this call-- it's important!
The United States is a county based on the rule of law. The law was broken,
and those who broke the law need to be held accountable. This isn't a
partisan issue or an issue of security-- this is an issue of the rule of law
and the basic rights granted to us as Americans by the Constitution. I've
heard argument for this bill articulated in a way that questions the
commitment of the bill's opponents to the "war on terror" or to the safety
of Americans. Those are fallacious arguments, and ignore the real issue
behind the opposition to this bill-- the fact that it runs slipshod over the
Constitution.
I *would* argue that opposition to this bill is an issue of patriotism. A
true patriot would take a stand for the Constitution and a stand against
unlawful infringements on Americans' rights. Our founding fathers could not
have envisioned electronic surveillance, but I'm confident that their vision
for the protection of Americans against unreasonable search and seizure
would include such electronic surveillance as this bill addresses.
Thank you for your time, and my apologies if this unsolicited email was
unwelcome. If you stand with me on this issue, please help in any way you
can-- even forwarding this email around (distasteful as mass-forwarding of
emails is) would be appreciated. We've got to get the word out before it's
too late.
Like I said-- I think this is important, and I hope you do too.
