Big Brother

Gosh, this is so depressing.

Take a look at this excerpt from an article called "American Values On Trial":

The “Protect America Act” removes judicial scrutiny of certain types of phone calls and e-mails - those involving foreigners and persons in the United States. For three decades, presidents have had to seek warrants for such surveillance through a secret court.

Now, however, the attorney general may issue warrants for people “reasonably” believed to be on foreign soil. As the American Civil Liberties Union notes, the spying may inadvertently sweep up the private conversations of innocent American citizens. And the new law offers no privacy protection to such citizens.

Only a meaningless vestige of judicial review of such surveillance remains: Under the new law, the attorney general will be required to tell the secret court only the broad outlines of the spying program. The attorney general will not have to disclose what will happen to American calls and e-mails that are intercepted, the ACLU points out. Nor will he be required to divulge how many Americans have been monitored.

Furthermore, the only accountability required by the new law is a bi-annual report to Congress on violations of the secret rules of the top-secret surveillance. And who determines which activities constitute violations? The attorney general.

For heaven's sake, everybody. Pay your ACLU dues.