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Will they listen now?

Yesterday the Senate approved a controversial terrorist surveillance bill, granting immunity for phone companies that participated in President Bush's warrantless wiretapping and extending the program for another four years. The Democrat controlled Senate, in a 69 to 28 vote, handed the Bush administration and their corporate supporters yet another major victory. It's no surprise to see the Democrats compliantly serving up more police-state legislation at the request of the Bush administration. They've proven impervious to any notions of a mandate from the voters and continue to play along with the administration's arrogant dismissal of the Constitution.

What is surprising, but only slightly so, is the backtracking support for the bill from the "candidate of change", Barack Obama. After repeated statements opposing retroactive immunity, including a promise to filibuster any bill including such immunity, he turned his back on enthusiastic grassroots supporters and gave the president everything he asked for. Cynically echoing the neo-con line, Obama defended his about-face:

"In a dangerous world, government must have the authority to collect the intelligence we need to protect the American people".

Contrast such spineless equivocation with Ron Paul's comments on the bill:

"The main reason I oppose this latest version is that it still clearly violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution by allowing the federal government to engage in the bulk collection of American citizens’ communications without a search warrant. That US citizens can have their private communication intercepted by the government without a search warrant is anti-American, deeply disturbing, and completely unacceptable.

In addition to gutting the fourth amendment, this measure will deprive Americans who have had their rights violated by telecommunication companies involved in the Administration’s illegal wiretapping program the right to seek redress in the courts for the wrongs committed against them. Worse, this measure provides for retroactive immunity, whereby individuals or organizations that broke the law as it existed are granted immunity for prior illegal actions once the law has been changed. Ex post facto laws have long been considered anathema in free societies under rule of law. Our Founding Fathers recognized this, including in Article I section 9 of the Constitution that “No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.” How is this FISA bill not a variation of ex post facto? That alone should give pause to supporters of this measure."

 The question is, will Obama's supporters get the picture?