Spying & Telco Immunity: It's The System, Stupid!

On Tuesday, the Senate voted to allow the government to eavesdrop on foreign-based communications and to shield the largest phone companies from some 40 lawsuits alleging illegal wiretapping.

The level of corruption that this vote represents is simply staggering. Telephone companies broke the law when they handed over private records to the government without going through proper legal procedures.

There is no member of Congress who doesn't agree that if you break the law, you must have your day in court. That is, unless you are AT&T or Verizon pumping massive amounts of cash into political campaigns and deluging them with an army of lobbyists.

John McCain voted against your right to privacy and for the largest phone companies. Hillary Clinton didn't vote, and Barack Obama voted against telco immunity. I'm not surprised to see that the reliably industry-friendly GOP isn't so "tough on crime" when big corporations are breaking the law. What's interesting is to look at the Democrats who also voted with the phone companies.

I could go on about what a misguided and depressing travesty of justice Tuesday's vote was, but you're used to it. We're all used to it, and it is yet another reminder that real, fundamental change must happen in Washington. Not by merely electing a better president, but by getting big money out of political elections and creating a media system with strong, critical journalism that holds government accountable. And not just at times like now when an administration is on its heels.

The problems of elections and media continue to be acute. Hillary raised $115.7 million for her presidential campaign in 2007 -- before a single vote had been cast. Obama raised $102.2 million. Romney was next with $88.5 million, and Giuliani pulled in $60.9 million. Bottom line: money, not ideas, determine whether you can run for high office in America. That is not what democracy is supposed to look like, and it's not what our young men and women are fighting and dying for overseas.

The mainstream press continues to obsess over the horse race and personalities of the presidential election, instead of telling the public exactly how candidates' policies vary, and how their rhetoric matches (or doesn't) their actions.

If Tuesday's immunity vote holds, the largest phone companies will only be emboldened in their efforts to control the Internet. They're already getting started. AT&T recently bragged at an industry trade show about its plans to "filter" Internet traffic for copyrighted material; Comcast got caught blocking traffic on their network; and Verizon censored text messages NARAL Pro-Choice America tried to send to its own members.

We can still fight back. The same day as Tuesday's telco immunity vote, Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chip Pickering (D-Miss.) introduced bipartisan legislation that would protect Net Neutrality and spark a much-needed public conversation about the future of the Internet by holding hearing across the country. The Federal Communications Commission even announced a February 26 public meeting in Boston to discuss Comcast's Internet blocking. We need to capitalize on these events to bring these crucial decisions into the light of day.

If you think this policy stuff is too wonky, think again. Because if we lose these fights, 10 years from now when phone and cable companies have taken control of the Internet and destroyed our last chance to get around the mainstream gatekeepers, you'll ask yourself why you weren't paying attention in 2008.

Comments

[Rule Of Law]

Josh, in order to get wider play on this you need to work either feminism, racism, or both into the story. Brittney would work, too. Read Erica Jong's blog for tips on how to write fluff. Then wonder why it is that Americans seem content to let their country be stolen from them...

Keep up the tough work--you aren't alone.

[Rule Of Law]

This, too, seems hung up somewhere though it shows on my bio page, sorry if it posts twice.

Obama, Hillary, Obama, Hillary etc etc etc...

Democrats voted FOR this bill. They have not impeached Bush or Cheney. They have not ended the war. And they are aiding and abetting the criminals who ordered these laws to be broken.

Tell me again how the Dems are going to fix this Country when we can't even get them to protect our rights? And---How did Obama and Hillary vote on this? posted 02/13/2008 at 20:53:10

Today--well, Obama voted against! That militarist, corporate sellout, Feinstein voted for it, and Hillary sat this one out!

[Rule Of Law]

Obama, Hillary, Obama, Hillary etc etc etc...

Democrats voted FOR this bill. They have not impeached Bush or Cheney. They have not ended the war. And they are aiding and abetting the criminals who ordered these laws to be broken.

Tell me again how the Dems are going to fix this Country when we can't even get them to protect our rights? And---How did Obama and Hillary vote on this?

[CuriousYouth]

I've already sent a letter to my congressmen! Thanks Josh.

[Nutcase]

Even if one believes the blather coming from Clinton and Obama that they oppose the bill, the winner has to get their agendas through the same Congress that passed this nonsense. I have no faith in either candidate nor in the Democratic Party. They are owned by the corporations and organized around the DLC. There is no place to turn.

I do derive a little twisted amusement, however, from all of the posters who are actually enthusiastic about one or the other of the candidates, as though they will keep their promises or mean what they say. Perhaps they should find and read Pelosi's and Reid's statements from little more than a year ago.

Hope. Change. BS.

cognito ergo populistae

[DickTater]

Right On