J. Edgar Hoover. Don’t know about him, kids? He’s the guy who ruled the FBI for a generation, and used his government power to spy against Americans just because he didn’t like their political ideas. It was J. Edgar Hoover who sent spies out against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
How is that related to Barack Obama? Well, Barack Obama voted for the FISA Amendments Act. In fact, Barack Obama liked the FISA Amendments Act so much that he actually voted against the Democratic filibuster of the bill.
Barack Obama joined with the likes of Joseph Lieberman, Sam Brownback, and James Inhofe to cut off the debate and push the FISA Amendments Act through the Senate.
And what does the FISA Amendments Act do? Why, it brings back the kind of spy powers that J. Edgar Hoover used against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. That’s what Barack Obama voted in favor of.
Of course, there’s a difference with the FISA Amendments Act. It doesn’t just authorize telephone wiretaps. It authorizes physical searches of Americans’ homes. It authorizes the government to read through your emails, and watch where you go and what you do when you’re on the Internet.
The FISA Amendments Act puts the Attorney General of the United States – the head of the Department of Justice, which includes the FBI – the power to conduct any kind of spy program he wants. All the Attorney General has to do is to declare, without any proof, that some unnamed person somewhere might get hurt in some way if the spying doesn’t take place.
But what if the spying against Americans is in violation of the law? Well, under the FISA Amendments Act, it’s the Attorney General who is given the sole power to declare that all the spying that he has done is legal. He doesn’t have to prove it. He just has to declare that it’s so, without any evidence, and then that issue is over.
No court, not the FISA court, and not any other court, is given the power to stop the spying.
Yes, Barack Obama actually voted in favor of this terrible law.
Barack Obama has been an icon to American liberals this year. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., when he was alive, was something different. Dr. King was a leader.
Barack Obama has been nothing but show. He has betrayed those of us who believe in the Constitution.
The icon Barack Obama has proven to be just about as liberal as J. Edgar Hoover.
Join Progressives Against Obama – to let Barack Obama know that we’re paying attention, and we don’t intend to accept his betrayal in silence.
