If They Only Had a Heart

Congress has redone the wiretapping laws after many months of discussion. For the most part, it's not that bad a deal in terms of civil liberties and the invasion of the privacy of Americans. There are more safeguards in the law than some conservative lawmakers would have preferred, which is a good thing. The one mystifying bit of this deal is the immunity for telecommunications companies, making invulnerable to lawsuits from American citizens who think their rights may have been violated.

According to this deal there will be a judicial oversight to determine if the phone companies received a legitimate request from government for a wiretap. And that's where the problem with immunity comes. Just because the government makes a request, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea, but more importantly, a governmental request isn't necessarily legal. It's the duty of every American citizen to decide if what the government is asking them to do is proper and legal. When immunity is granted in situations like this, it's like telling these companies it's alright to forgo their responsibilities as Americans, which the telecommunication companies appear to be all too willing to do.

The mystifying part comes in as to why the Democrats caved in on this matter. The Democrats have been talking a tough game about stemming the tide of George Bush's imperial presidency (and the precedent Bush has set for future administrations), but the Democrats, in control of Congress, have not acted tough. Quite frankly, they have acted timidly, or simply have not acted at all, as if they are still an out of power party cowering in the corners, fearful of even the shadows of Bush and Cheney.