Last year I was disappointed that then Senator Barack Obama would not take a stand on the issue of telecom immunity.He voted yes and never provided a satisfactory explanation for the vote. This was frustrating because he touts the notion of transparent government and spoke out against the excess of secrecy and illegal wire tapping in the Bush administration.
So fast-forward to the present and we find the present administration fending off lawsuits from activity started during the Bush administration related to secret wire-tapping programs. They approach the matter in exactly the same manner as the Bush administration, namely invoking the common law notion of "state secrets" and furthermore asserting that they have sovereign immunity as long as there is no willful disclosure. Blech, not only have the hitched their wagon to Bush tactics they go even further than the last bunch. I didn't like it as a Bush tactic, I don't like it from the Obama administration.
Time to up my contribution to the EFF.
Additional coverage: Salon, The Atlantic
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