So, US citizens need to resist the excesses of big
gumment and, moreover, as good news, can do so with
a simple letter to their Congressman and Senators,
if enough citizens do that.
E.g., it was good to see SOPA/PIPA go down for the
count after one punch from a flurry of publicity and
letters to Congress. I wrote all three of my guys
here in NY.
One way to get more such needed letters is more
information on the Internet as here on HN. While
the EFF seems to do a lot of really good work, the
legal system is slow while a few 18 wheel trucks of
letters to Congress can get action as quickly as
Congress can act which means in less than 24 hours.
Two-thirds of the House; two-thirds of the Senate;
do not pass the White House, do not collect the
president's signature; done. We actually do live in
a quite responsive democracy; when enough citizens
shout "frog" Congress jumps; and Congress has the
lion's share of the power.
"'Sunlight is the best disinfectant,'” a well-known
quote from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis
Brandeis".
The NSL situation was so obviously unconstitutional
that I have to believe that the W efforts to push
through that and similar stuff after 9/11 were
understood at the time to be unconstitutional but to
give a window, until cases were brought and the
courts acted, to permit defending against anymore
9/11s.
Hopefully the FBI and the DoJ didn't do too much
damage to honest US citizens and did round up lots
of wacko Jihaders dreaming of a harem of 72 virgins
or whatever.
http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Eternal_vigil...
attributed to Jefferson is
"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."
So, US citizens need to resist the excesses of big gumment and, moreover, as good news, can do so with a simple letter to their Congressman and Senators, if enough citizens do that.
E.g., it was good to see SOPA/PIPA go down for the count after one punch from a flurry of publicity and letters to Congress. I wrote all three of my guys here in NY.
One way to get more such needed letters is more information on the Internet as here on HN. While the EFF seems to do a lot of really good work, the legal system is slow while a few 18 wheel trucks of letters to Congress can get action as quickly as Congress can act which means in less than 24 hours. Two-thirds of the House; two-thirds of the Senate; do not pass the White House, do not collect the president's signature; done. We actually do live in a quite responsive democracy; when enough citizens shout "frog" Congress jumps; and Congress has the lion's share of the power.
For the power of more information, as at
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2003/1203/nv/nv2.htm
"'Sunlight is the best disinfectant,'” a well-known quote from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis".
The NSL situation was so obviously unconstitutional that I have to believe that the W efforts to push through that and similar stuff after 9/11 were understood at the time to be unconstitutional but to give a window, until cases were brought and the courts acted, to permit defending against anymore 9/11s.
Hopefully the FBI and the DoJ didn't do too much damage to honest US citizens and did round up lots of wacko Jihaders dreaming of a harem of 72 virgins or whatever.