| Darius Shahinfar weighs in on today's passage of the abominable FISA revision. From an emailed press release:
Shahinfar on FISA Agreement
Calls FISA compromise a compromise of Constitutional rights
Albany, N.Y. - Today, Darius Shahinfar, candidate for the 21st Congressional District, called the compromise reached on amendment of the Federal Information Surveillance Act (FISA) a compromise of Constitutional principles.
"The critical problem of this compromise is that it contains a free pass for the Bush Administration's and telecommunication companies' past actions. The Administration's use of warrantless wiretaps cannot be reviewed, and the process to review the telecommunications companies' participation in the wiretapping program leads inevitably to immunity for those companies" Shahinfar said.
Darius' remarks come at a time when the controversial piece of legislation would allow immunity to phone companies who currently face lawsuits for violating the constitutional rights of their members, according to plaintiff claims.
"By passing this piece of legislation, we are telling our government and our citizens that as long as the President tells you to do so, breaking the law is legal. No one, not even the President, is above our laws, especially when it comes to the issue of protecting our Constitutional rights."
When asked further of his views about FISA, Shahinfar continued, "FISA was created 30 years ago, is applicable with today's advanced technology and has been a vital tool in collecting intelligence for our nations' security.It had not been an issue, until this administration decided to use it improperly and against its intended purpose. This will not make Americans any safer from threats at home or abroad; rather it will put us at the mercy of secret agreements between corporations and our government."
It should be noted that this is a solid Dem district and the current holder of the NY-21 seat, Mike McNulty, stood tall for the Constitution and the rule of law today. Whomever wins the primary and the general in the 21st is likely to hold that seat for a long, long time. It is therefore important that we get the best Dem possible to replace McNulty as we'll be dealing with them for many years in the future. Constitutional issues are damn important and I'd like to see a Dem who takes this stuff awfully seriously win that seat.
I'd like to invite all the candidates for this seat to chime in here. How do you feel about today's events? Would you have supported or opposed passage of this "compromise?" Why or why not?
We need to know. |
